


Danganronpa: Hope's Prospect

by Garrmactad



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Dangan Ronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc
Genre: Fan Killing Game (Dangan Ronpa), Gen, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-25
Updated: 2019-03-18
Packaged: 2019-04-07 18:00:40
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 43
Words: 55,304
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14086503
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Garrmactad/pseuds/Garrmactad
Summary: At Prospect's Academy, the American affiliate of Hope's Peak Academy, the 13th Class has been selected, but the class has blacked out and found themselves alone in the school with a bear orchestrating a killing game. What's the class to do? Fight the Bear and it's Game? or Play along with it?





	1. Prologue: Part 1

Prospect’s Academy, The American affiliate of Hope’s Peak Academy, It’s considered one of the best schools in the world, let alone the country. Students are scouted by the academy, and should they accept they’d be enrolled into the next class. Those that accepted would go through roughly 3 years at the school before graduating, and then they’d be set for life, or at least that’s what's said.

Oh! Before I go on, I should introduce myself, I’m Garrett Webster, the soon-to-be student in front of you. I’m wearing a brown suit and pants, I know it’s weird to wear this on such a simple occasion, but my family insisted. I have brown hair, it covering the left half my forehead, and the other devoid of any covering.

On more interesting topics, the only reason I’m here is that I was lucky enough to be accepted to be accepted, and as what? The Ultimate Historian, I mean- it fits me. I could probably answer any question you gave to me on most of history. But, most other people would think it’s pretty boring.

But I should get along now, I have a whole lifetime ahead of me. I took a step forward into the Academy’s gates, one towards my future-

“Wha-?”

Then everything went black.

* * *

 Cold.

Coldness.

That’s all I could feel when I woke up, I felt cold. Then I realized where I was, I was sitting in a classroom? Did.. Someone bring me here after I collapsed, or did-? I can worry about that later, first I have to-

I sat myself up only to notice a paper on the desk I was sitting in, it read “Welcome to Prospect’s Academy! Feel free to go meet your fellow classmates, who have resigned to exploring the campus. Happy Days!” I felt somewhat relieved after reading that, they must’ve brought me here and left the note for when I woke up! Regardless, I should probably get up to meet my fellow classmates.

As I left the classroom I looked to my left and right, there appearing to be nobody being in this hallway. I decide to take the hallway going left, as the right side seemed to only have 2 other classrooms. As I turn the corner, I see the doors to 2 rooms, The Laundry Room, and the Library. I take a quick glance inside the laundry room, and it’s a standard one, just more expanded due to having more people to wash for, and there’s a door in the back, but I’ll look at that later. I quickly turn back to the hall then I walk over to the Library and then I walked in.

As I entered I saw 2 people, one was in the back, fiddling with one of the computers, the other was sitting on the ground with multiple books around her. I decided to talk to the girl first, and walked over to where she was sitting. She was wearing a Lab Coat over a grey shirt, with black pants, and grey shoes. She was also wearing Goggles, and she has brown and purple hair? As I walked over to her she seemed not to notice me at all, and was just reading the books she layed out.

“Hello?”

“...”

No response.

“Um, Hello?”

“...”

Once again no response, so I decided it would be best if I tried to-

“Oh, Hello.” She said suddenly.

“Oh- Uh, Hello!” I said back quickly.

“Sorry, I can get too into my reading, and I assume we are making our introductions, no?” She said as she stood up.

“Yeah, I’m Garrett Webster, the Ultimate Historian!”

“No need to act so awkwardly,” She said bluntly, “I’m Mary Collins, the Ultimate Chemist.”

“Oh, I should have recognized you earlier! Weren’t you the one that cured that one disease?”

Mary Collins is a rising African-American star in the world of Chemistry, and has been credited for solving a disease that struck the Caribbean after a particularly bad hurricane.

“My team and I? Yes. May I also ask why you couldn’t recognize me?”

“Oh yeah, didn’t you have an accident a while back?”

“That, yes that would explain it. Yes, I did have an accident, I was mixing a few substances, and it went south, resulting in front half of my hair being turned.. Purple.”

“That would explain it, your old pictures were before that.”

“That solves that, now if I may, I have reading to get back to.”

After having that conversation end… rather bluntly, I decided to meet the guy in the back. He was wearing a white shirt with a star on it, Magenta overshirt, and purple baggy pants. He also appeared to have blonde hair, with it being dyed brown on the side.

“Hello?” I said.

“Hey!” He said looking up from the computer, “I hope that you recognize me from work!”

“Sorry, I don’t think I’ve seen you before.” I said nervously.

“Thats.. Unfortunate, but then I should introduce myself! I’m Paul Jones, The Ultimate Internet Personality!” He exclaimed, “That ring a bell now?”

“I think I do remember something actually.”

If I’m remembering correctly, Paul Jones started out as a vlogger on a popular website, but he grew in popularity quickly, outgrowing most of the website’s top users. He would eventually guest star in a popular TV show, and would act in multiple movies, but still remained very active on his vlogging channel.

“Heh,” He chuckled, “That’s great! I hope we can get along during our 3 years here.”

“Yeah, also, I’d like to know why your messing with that computer.”

“Oh yeah, I’m trying to look at my.. statistics, but I can’t seem to connect to the internet here..”

“That’s a bit concerning, but they probably just want us to stay focused and meet with our classmates.” I suggested.

“You might be right, but something feels off.. Well, I guess I’ll see you later then.”

“I guess so.”

I decided it would be best if I left the library, since I’ve met everyone here. As I walk out of the library, I start walking to what appears to be the entrance, and I see that the windows are bolted? I walk up to one, and it’s been bolted shut, and it appears the rest have been too-

“So you noticed it to?” A voice suddenly said.

“W- Aah!” I yelled surprise.

“Woah! No need to be so loud!” They said angrily.

“S-sorry.”

I saw that they were quite shorter than I was, and everyone else I’ve met so far. She was wearing a Dark Blue coat? That has a name tag on the left saying “Madison”, and the right had thing that seemed medal-like, along with ones on the collar. She was also wearing a light blue collared shirt under that, also wearing something skirt-like for pants, and dress shoes? She also had fashioned her blonde hair into a ponytail.

“What.. are you wearing?”

“I should explain that, but first, I’m Natalie Madison, The Ultimate ROTC Cadet!”

That clicked something for me.

“Oh! I took that program a while back, how could I forget?”

“Then you should remember, or at least know what this is?” She gestured to her outfit.

“Y-yeah, I should also mention I’m Garrett Webster, Ultimate Historian.”

“Nice to meet you Webster. I should also mention, the Office is weirdly locked, make of that what you will, but I thought I should mention it.”

“What?” I said as I walked over to the office door, I gave the handle a turn- and it didn’t budge, “Huh, i suppose that’s suspicious.”

“Along with these windows, I’d think something's up.”

“You do make a point.” I say.

“Yeah, yeah, We should get along now, we have a whole class to meet.”

She seemed nice enough, but I continued to the end of the hall, and it appeared the gym was there. I pushed the door open, and when I got a view of the whole gym, I saw only one person. They were wearing an open light purple over-shirt, under that they wore a light blue shirt. He was also wearing dark grey pants, and green shoes. His hair was ginger, with it being tied into 4 knots on his head.

“Oh, hello there!” He said as he walked over.

“Hey, I’m Garrett Webster, Ultimate Historian.” I raise my hand for a handshake.

“I see, I’m Cole Nelson, The Ultimate Substitute” He says, then we shake hands.

“Substitute?”

“I’ve gotten that a lot.. Yes, Substitute, as in Substitute Teacher,” He said calmly.

“Thanks, I understand that much better now!”

“I suppose that should be it for introductions.”

“W-what?”

“Oh yeah, I forgot to say, I seem to have trouble remembering much besides those 2 pieces of information, sorry that I haven’t got much to say.”

“No problem. See you later I guess.”

“Same.”

After that I walked out of the gym, and turned left. Almost immediately I saw the Infirmary, and I decided to walk inside, where I saw 2 people, one sitting on a bed, and the other looking through the cabinet.

“H-hello!” The person on the bed said.

He was wearing a blue-grey striped shirt, blue jeans, and a gold watch? His hair was a chestnut brown, and it dipped a bit on the right.

“Oh, A new person!” The other person said.

She was wearing a red jersey that had “17” printed on it, she was also wearing stuffy pants and cleats. Her hair was black, and was cut down to the back of her head.

“Hey, what happened here?”

“Oh, I was running and Mr. Weakie here walked from the dorms and got hurt, and I was tasked with helping him.” She said.

“Hey!” he called out.

“Okay.. I think we should introduce ourselves, I’m Garrett Webster, The Ultimate Historian.”

“History? that sounds boring!” She said impulsively, “No offence.”

“It’s fine.”

“Anyways, I’m Madison Jacobs! Ultimate Footballer!” she exclaimed.

I’ve heard of her, she was the captain of her football team, and she’s led them to victory repeatedly, garnering her national fame.

“Yeah I know, but no need to fan over my record!”

“D-don’t leave me out! I’m Christopher Tompkins, the Ultimate Entrepreneur!”

I’ve also heard of him, he’s led multiple businesses to success and has some work in the stock market, but every time he seems to resign mysteriously.

“Both of you were accepted for your professions?"

“Yup! We both were accepted here for those!” Madison commented.

They both have worked hard for years to earn their titles, I guess most Ultimates do-

“What’s wrong? You seemed to space out there."

“It’s nothing. Also, if you’re looking to solve bruises, why are you looking for medicine?” I said to change the subject.

“I’ve told her that! I just need some ice..” Christopher pointed out.

“Ice? Nah! I’ve read something in here is what’ll help!”

“Ugh, you better get going, She’s gonna take a while..”

“Okay..”

“Nice meeting you!” Madison said as I was leaving.

After leaving the infirmary I continued down the hall and I saw the floor bathrooms, boys on the left, girls on the right. There’s also a store across from the boys bathroom, but it appears to be locked. After that I walked into what appears to be a common area, well more of an open area. To the left appears to be the cafeteria, and a storage room after that, and in the distance to the right appears to be what Madison called the Dorms. I walked along, and as I entered the Cafeteria, I felt a tense atmosphere.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So there's my first chapter for this, and I really hope the rest goes well. Regardless, I hope you like what I've got so far, and'll stick around for the ride.
> 
> Edit (7/23/2018): Student Profiles Added.


	2. Prologue: Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Garrett continues to introduce himself to his fellow classmates.

As I entered the Cafeteria, it seemed to have a tense atmosphere, no doubt due to the 3 people currently occupying the room. And it seemed as if 2 of them seemed to be having an argument of sorts.

“I can cheer people up, and give them a laugh too!” The 1st Person yelled out.

“Well we can create a dramatic atmosphere, and teach people valuable lessons!” The other person yelled back.

I opted to talk to the person not actively in an argument. She appeared to be wearing a brown leather jacket open over a pink shirt, blue jeans, along with boots. Her hair is blonde hanging to the end of her head, with it hanging lower on the left side.

“Howdy!” She exclaimed suddenly.

“O-oh, Hello!”

“We better make introductions then! I’m Penelope McGovern, Ultimate Campaigner!”

I’ve heard of her before, she’s an energetic campaigner that’s campaigned for a variety of causes, all of which have advanced to some degree due to her influence. That’s not to say she isn’t principled, but she’s campaigned a lot over her career. People have said she’s motivated, but I didn’t expect this.

“I better introduce myself too then, Garrett Webster, Ultimate Historian.”

“Interesting, but you should probably introduce yourself to those two, they're going to need a tiebreaker sooner or later.”

“Tiebreaker? Aren’t they arguing?”

“No they aren’t! Their just having a good old fashioned debate!” She explained.

She was a campaigner, of course she’d set up a debate between the two of them!

“David! Jeane! Garrett over here’d like to settle your debate!” She called.

“Really?” The first of them called out.

“Yeah, but you better introduce yourself first!” Penelope replied.

The first of the two to approach me was wearing black overalls, a red-blue striped shirt, and a white tie. He also appeared to have a shaved hairstyle, with the exception of his sides. The other person was wearing a ruby red dress that had a belt of some sorts at the middle, she also had her hair styled to where it was mostly hanging down to the left side of her head.

“So I guess we’re making introductions, I’m David Dole, The Ultimate Comedian!”

I’ve heard of him before, he’s appeared on multiple Late-Night shows, and has toured around the country multiple times.

“You’ve probably heard of me, I mean, how does one not hear about-”

“No fair! I want to introduce myself too! I’m Jeane Brown, Ultimate Stage Actress!”

I’m less familiar with her, but if I’m remembering correctly, she’s a Broadway actor, and has appeared in multiple plays in the last few years, getting her a reputation for her passionate acting.

“So, what were you debating about?” I asked.

“Oh nothing much, just the merits of our 2 Talents on the stage.” David explained.

“That would explain what you were saying.”

“Yeah, but I totally think acting is better!” Jeane pushed.

“Psh, I would verbally disagree, but we all know my point.” Dole said lazily.

“So yeah, you’re up to the decision Webby!” Penelope said, pushing me to make a choice.

“Well, I don’t really think I can choose, they both have their place for what people need at different times, and for what they prefer. So I guess they’re both important.”

“That’s indecisive!” David fumed.

“Well my point still stands!” I poked back.

“Ha!” Penelope chuckled, “Taking the middle road I see. That’s probably for the best here to be honest.”

“Eh whatever, I still think I’m in the right!” Jeane said.

“No you aren’t!” David replied.

“You should probably get going, they’re not going to stop soon.” Penelope said, giving me an easy way out.

I exited the Cafeteria, and chose to walk over to what was called the Storage Room, I could wait a little longer to go to the Dorms. I walked over to the room, but I noticed to my left a stairwell locked off with a plate reading “2” on it, it probably just meant it led to floor 2. There was also a blocked off room, but I ignored it, and entered the storage room.

I opted to talk with the more modestly dressed person, the other person looked like she was looking for something anyways. He was wearing a brown leather jacket, a light brown undershirt, brown pants, and boots. His black hair was also cut mostly short, with the exception of what appeared to be a curl on his forehead.

As I was walking over to him, he suddenly said, “Stop.”

“W-what? Why?” I responded.

“I’m checking if you’re a threat.”

“Why would I be a threat?” I questioned.

“You must always be alert, well, in the wild that is.”

“Okay? Anyways, I’m Garrett Webster, The Ultimate Historian.”

“Intellectual talent, not a physical threat.”

“Hey!”

“Regardless, I’m Vincent Meriwether, The Ultimate Hunter. You probably haven’t heard of me, not many people have.”

“Yeah..”

“You should talk to her now, you have her and probably other to meet.”

I decided to take his advice, and meet the other person in the room, who was still seemed like she was looking for something. She was wearing a purple leather coat, a lighter shade as a shirt, orange shorts, and red high heel boots. Her hair was dyed a pink, and she had some hanging on her side, and the rest put into a ponytail behind her head.

“Uh, Hello?” I said as I tapped her shoulder.

“Oh, Hello! Sorry, i was just looking for some fabric and mannequins!” She responded.

“Oh, I guess that’s probably because of your talent?”

“Correct! I’m Elizabeth Harrison, The Ultimate Stylist!” She exclaimed.

To my knowledge, she’s known for producing multiple fashion lines for her father’s company.

“Cool, I’m Garrett Webster, Ultimate Historian.”

“That’s interesting, I’d bet it make an interesting line..” She mumbled.

“Okay, I should get going, I still have to meet a few more people..”

“Okay! See you later!”

After finishing with Elizabeth, I left the storage room and decided to head to the dorms-

“Ah, hello.”

It surprised me to see someone here, but I guess I was in there for a little while. He’s wearing an aqua blue shirt, but has an apron with a comb and scissors over it, and green jeans. His blonde hair is long, but mostly stuffed into a mound on his head.

“O-oh, Hello, I wasn’t expecting someone here!” I said.

“It’s nothing, I was just checking something. Anyways, I haven’t met you, so you are?”

“I’m Garrett Webster, Ultimate Historian, you?”

“Hmm, Warrick Barba, Ultimate Hairdresser.” He stated.

“Oh, Interesting! So why were you over here?”

“I was simply checking the stairwell, nothing more. All these mysteries.. I wonder what they mean.”

“Okay then.. I’m gonna go to the Dorms now!”

“Fine, fine, I’m going to keep investigating then.”

I quickly walked away towards the dorms, and on the way I notice a box labeled “Keys”. I look inside to see only 1 left, it appears to have my name on it, so I take it. I keep walking forward, and I’m quickly in the Dorm area, and weirdly, my room is the first to the right.

“Okay then.” I said.

I opened the door to my room, and it seemed pretty standard, a bed, nightstand, table and chair, closet, and bathroom. I looked around my room, and nothing seemed out of the ordinary. I checked the closet, and it had multiple pairs of my suit? That’s weird, how would they know-

My thoughts were interrupted by knocking a the door.

“C-coming!” I called out.

I rushed to the door, there was a girl wearing a cyan hoodie and blue jeans, and she had her brown hair fashioned into a ponytail to her side.

“O-oh, I wasn’t expecting you to arrive-” She said before being interrupted.

“Lucy! I told you to be less stammery!” The other girl said.

The other girl was wearing a Martial Arts robe with a black belt, she also had her hair styled into 2 buns on either side of her head.

“Okay what’s going on?” I asked.

“Lucy saw you and wanted to introduce herself, but she got stammery again.” The 2nd girl said.

“W-wait, I wasn’t-” ‘Lucy’ said.

“It doesn’t matter, we can just introduce ourselves now, I’m Garrett Webster, The Ultimate Historian.

“Okay, I’m Katrina Norris, Ultimate Taekwondo Instructor!” She exclaimed.

“And I’m Lucy Fitzgerald, Ultimate Lucky Student..” Lucy mumbled.

“Lucky Student?” I asked.

“Yeah! Apparently PA holds a raffle to pick a ‘Lucky Student’ for the next class!” Katrina explained.

“That’s interesting.” I said.

“I know! But she has problems being with an Ultimate based on arbitrary forces or something.” Katrina said.

“I don’t think I deserve to be one of the few ultimates accepted because of luck, but I mean, who’d turn down an offer to this school?” Lucy said.

“I get where you’re coming from, but don’t be a downer about it, you were scouted for a reason right?” I said.

“I mean, I guess you’re right-” Lucy admitted.

“We should get going, there are still places to see right?” Katrina interjected.

“I mean sure-” Lucy said.

“Great! Let’s get going!” Katrina said, dragging Lucy away.

“I guess I’ll see you later then.” I said to them as they moved farther away.

I decided to walk through the rest of the Dorms, and it appeared to just be a big loop. When I got back, I noticed someone I haven’t met leaving their room.

“Hey wait!” I called out.

He turned to look at me, and he appeared to be wearing a sailor’s uniform and hat, he was also by far the biggest and tallest person I’ve seen today.

“Oh, Hello!” He greeted.

“Hey! I think we’re the last to meet each other!” I said.

“That’s something, but no matter! Time for our introductions!” He exclaimed.

“Okay, I’m Garrett Webster, Ultimate Historian.”

“Thomas Willard, Ultimate Sailor! I’ve spent many years in the sea!” He said.

“That’s cool I guess, The sea must be exciting.” I replied.

“Yeah, I’ve even had encounters with pirates!” Thomas said, “But we should talk more later, I’m looking for something right now.”

“I guess I’ll see you later.” I said as he left.

Since I was alone, I decided to go back into my room, there was still something I needed to check-

*Ding Dong, Bing Bong*

“What?”

Then a monitor on the wall turned on, it only seemed to display a shadowy figure.

“Ahem, I see that you have all met, so.. All students, please assemble in the gym!” A cartoonish voice said, “It’s time for the ceremony to begin!”

Why was that the voice? It didn’t seem appropriate for this type of school, but I should go to the gym, everyone else will be going there. So I started to walk to the gym.

When I arrived at the entrance, there were multiple people standing near the entrance.

“Ah, Garrett!” David said walking over to me.

“Hey, uh, why are we waiting at the entrance?” I said.

“Some people just needed a breather, y’know, welcoming ceremony and all.” David responded.

“But it never mentioned-” I said.

“That means nothing, surely some mysteries will be solved.” Warrick said as he entered.

“Don’t mind him, he’s just trying to act leaderly.” Mary said.

“Personally, I’d of said like a stuck-up uncaring leader, but whatever.” Madison said.

“We should probably enter regardless.” I said.

“That would be the best course of action.” Mary said before she entered.

“Eh, I better go in, make sure it’s safe for you guys!” David said before entering.

“Multiple people have already entered!” Madison said futilely.

“I’m just gonna enter now.” I said as I walked to the entrance.

“Hey! Don’t forget me!” Madison said as she ran into the Gym.

I was going to walk into the start of my academic career at Prospect’s Academy, having met my 15 fellow Ultimates. All I can hope for is that nothing goes wrong during the ceremony…

‘I’m going to regret thinking that, aren’t I?’ were my last thoughts as I entered the gym, prepared for whatever I could face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Edit (7/23/2018): Student Profiles Added.


	3. Prologue: Part 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The class assembles in the gym.

As I stepped into the gym, it appeared that for the first time all of us were in the same room.

“So it appears all of us have arrived.” Warrick said.

“W-we can see that!” Christopher replied.

“You sound nervous, what’s wrong?” Katrina asked.

“We just all came here! W-we don’t even know what that figure was!” Christopher responded.

“That’s still no reason to act like that.” Katrina said.

“Yeah dude, It’ll all be fine!” Paul said.

“You’re awfully optimistic considering the situation.” Mary commented.

“Well why shouldn’t I?” Paul replied.

“We’ve appeared to have been locked in the school,” Mary explained, “and there’s a noticeable lack of the staff.”

“Well.. You have a point there.” Paul admitted.

“We’re probably fine, I mean, they wouldn’t allow anything bad to happen! This is Prospect’s Academy we’re in!” Penelope said.

“Y-yeah, we should be fine..” I said.

“But it is weird, only us being on the school grounds, it just seems mysterious.” David commented.

“And that’s without mentioning my memory loss.” Cole said.

“Psh, How do we know this isn’t standard? PA doesn’t say anything about it’s orientation anywhere.” Madison said.

“I’d agree if it was solely the isolation, but Cole’s memory loss? I don't buy it.” Warrick said.

“Whatever you say.” Madison said.

“I agree with Warrick, something must be up. The windows are sealed, and the office is locked.” Natalie said.

“It does give a trapped and isolationist atmosphere..” Jeane said, “Just like some plays I’ve been in!”

“This is not the time for those comments!” David said annoyedly.

“Hmpf!” Jeane responded.

“Anyways, what’s taking them so long! We only have so much daylight to waste!” Elizabeth said.

“Now come on, I’m sure they have a logical reason.” Cole said assuredly.

“Patience is of essence, it may take a long time for the perfect shot, but it is worth it in the end.” Vincent said.

“Isn’t it ‘patience is a virtue’?” Lucy asked.

“Well, yes, but it doesn’t matter!” Vincent responded.

“Still, I wouldn’t imagine an academy for the ultimates to keep them waiting.” Thomas said.

“Well, since we’ve been left waiting and we’re all here, I should ask, Did anyone else faint when walking onto the school grounds?” Warrick said.

That question appeared to shock everyone to different degrees.

“W-wait, It wasn’t just me?” Paul said.

“I thought it was just because of..” Lucy mumbled.

“It appears as if all of us have experienced the same phenomenon when walking here.” Mary commented.

“That was what I was expecting, now for a better question, Did any-” Warrick said before being interrupted.

“Sorry for keeping you all waiting! I just had something to take care of!” A mysterious voice said.

“Huh?” I said.

“T-that’s the same one as before!” Christopher yelled.

“Calm down!” Madison said.

“That is an odd voice for a human to posses.” Thomas said.

“Show yourself! We have questions!” Warrick called out.

“Oh? I wasn’t expecting this! The other guys weren’t as demanding as this..” It said.

‘Other guys?’ I thought.

“Just get down here!” Warrick called out again.

“Fine! We have to get things started anyways!” It said.

It was sudden, and confusing, but right after it said that, what appeared to be a half-white and half-black toy bear popped up on the Gym stage.

“What?” I said surprised.

“It's a toy bear.” Elizabeth said, “This is a joke right?”

“I’m no joke!” It said, “But I’m no toy either! I’m Monokuma! Your Headmaster!”

“Mono.. kuma?” I said, it sounded familiar, but I’ve never heard it before.

“You’re the headmaster? This is such a bad joke, I expected better from this Academy.” David commented.

“I’m no joke!” ‘Monokuma’ said.

“Well ‘Monokuma’, since we’re all here, could you start this Ceremony you mentioned?.” Warrick asked.

“Well since you asked, very well!” ‘Monokuma’ said.

I was still shocked by the bear, and so were some of the others, but it seemed to not care about that and continued.

“You Sixteen Ultimates..” It paused, “Will be locked in this school for the foreseeable future!”

That stunned everyone in the room.

“W-what do you mean ‘foreseeable future’!?” Paul said.

“Weeell, I mean that you lot will be locked in this school near indefinitely!” Monokuma said.

“T-that- I-I can’t..” Paul said.

“Y-you can’t do that!” Penelope called out.

“Yeah! We’ll find a way out!” Katrina said.

“A way out? You won’t need to find it! I’ll just tell ya what it is!” Monokuma said.

“R-really!?” Christopher asked.

“Geez, you all are really eager to get out so soon! It hasn’t even been a day!” The bear complained, “Fine! The way to graduate is by… Killing another student!”

That froze everyone with shock.

“K-kill?” David stuttered out.

“Yup! Stabbing, Bludgeoning, Strangulation, Poisoning, the whole lot! As long as you kill them, you’ll have an opportunity to escape!” Monokuma explained.

“W-what?” I stuttered. This was beyond insane, how could this happen?

“Opportunity?” Warrick asked, “Your wording there, what does it mean?”

“Drat! You noticed! Fine, it’s more complicated than that!” Monokuma said, “You also have to get away with it!”

“And what would that mean?” Warrick asked.

“When one of you is murdered, we’ll hold a Class Trail!” Monokuma said enthusiastically.

“Class.. Trial?” Madison said, confused.

“A Class Trial! Where you lot will have to find out which of you offed someone else to escape!” Monokuma explained, “If you guess who did it correctly, only they will be punished. But if you guess wrong, I’ll punish everyone else!”

“What do you mean by punishment?” Cole asked.

“Execution!” Monokuma yelled, “An eye for an eye! The whole shabang!”

“T-this-” Christopher muttered before passing out.

“Oh, he couldn’t handle it? That’s disappointing..” The bear said.

“He fainted!” Penelope yelled at Monokuma, “And we’ll never play your game!”

“Never?” Monokuma said, “I have ways of making it happen! Besides, I’m sure some of you are thinking about it right now!”

That thought just hit me, some people here might be thinking about it. It could be anyone as well, anyone in this room,

“But you all seem to have gotten the point so.. I’ll just leave your Student Handbooks here,” It gestured to a box on the stage, “And I’ll be leaving! Happy Killings!” and then he disappeared from the stage.

We were all dumbfounded, a killing game, and a psychotic bear. It felt so familiar, but I couldn’t grasp what it was.

But now we’re all trapped in the school, and are the participants of this killing game.

Would anyone kill? All I could do is hope that nobody would.

* * *

Students Remaining: 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Game has Begun! and I already hate writing the bear, but whatever.


	4. Chapter 1: Despair's Academy Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The students talk about the game.

  1. Students are to remain on school grounds at all times for the foreseeable future.
  2. ‘Nighttime’ is designated as 10 PM to 8 AM, during that time, the Gym and Cafeteria are closed.
  3. Students are free to explore the school as they wish, unless stated otherwise.
  4. Violence against the Headmaster, Monokuma, is prohibited.
  5. Do not cause damage intentionally to your Student Handbooks.
  6. When a student is murdered, the first culprit (known as ‘the blackened’), will have an opportunity to graduate.
  7. When a Body is discovered by 3 innocents (known as ‘the spotless’), a Body Discovery Announcement will play.
  8. Prior to a Class Trial, students will be given an amount of time to investigate for the trail.
  9. If the spotless correctly select the blackened, the blackened alone will be punished.
  10. If the spotless incorrectly guess, all remaining spotless will be punished unless stated otherwise.
  11. The Headmaster may add more regulations in the future, at their discretion.



Those were the rules of the game, as shown on my Student Handbook.

After the bear left a few people left as well, Madison took the liberty of bringing Christopher back to his room, but not without concern, but she brushed it off and dragged Christopher to his room.

After that, Paul walked out, saying that he needed to be alone for a while. Cole and Natalie also left, but they didn’t give any reasons why.

That left the last 11 of us still in the gym, that wasn’t to say that some people weren’t shaken, but still.

“Uh, so what now?” I asked.

“We talk about this, obviously.” Warrick responded aggressively.

“But here? I think somewhere else would be better.” Penelope said.

“That’s… fine.” Warrick said reluctantly.

“Where should we go then?” Penelope asked.

“The Cafeteria seems fine, we should go there.” Thomas suggested.

“The cafeteria is likely the best place to meet daily.” Mary said.

“Then we’ll be going there!” Penelope excitedly said.

“Fine with me, let’s get going then.” Warrick said as he walked out of the gym.

“He’s too pushy..” Katrina mumbled, “Let’s go Lucy.”

Katrina then started pulling Lucy to the cafeteria.

“Okay then..” Lucy said.

After that everyone left began to leave the gym, and I followed suit.

* * *

 After a bit of walking, all eleven of us that hadn’t left arrived in the Cafeteria, and then most of us sat down in a seat.

“So what are we talking about again?” Katrina asked.

“How we are going to deal with the bear’s game.” Warrick responded.

“Well, I think we should avoid the game entirely, while looking for a way out!” Penelope said.

“While I agree, how are we supposed to find a way out? The entrance is locked, and the upper floors are currently locked off.” David responded.

“Well we can’t give up!” Penelope said.

“Nobody was saying that.” Thomas commented.

“There has to be a way for us to get out, albeit how is a different question.” Mary said.

“We can definitely say that there’s a way out, but our concern should lie on the bear.” Warrick said.

“How so? We can’t fight him, so what’d we do?” Elizabeth asked.

“Someone is controlling that bear, and we should find out who it is, to stop the game.” Warrick said.

“Why are you so sure that there’s a mastermind?” Cole asked.

“What else could explain what’s happening here?” Warrick responded.

“Maybe the school set this up, I mean, they never talk about what happens inside the academy.” Cole said.

“Doubt it, there is a mastermind, and I swear I will find out who they are!” Warrick said.

“So we find out who the ‘mastermind’ is, and the game ends?” I asked.

“That’s what I’ve laid out, yes.” Warrick responded.

That seemed like a solid plan, in theory that is.

“And then we’ll be out!” Jeane said, “and we can all return to our normal lives!”  
“Yeah! And maybe, we can all-” Penelope said before she was interrupted.

“You’re all to optimistic.” Vincent, who was silently leaning against the wall said.

“What?” Penelope responded.

“You all think Monokuma will just wait for us to kill each other? Or that we’ll find his controller easily? That’s highly unlikely.” Vincent explained.

“What brought up this doubt so suddenly?” Mary asked.

“Yeah! Tell us, or you have a sparring match on your hands!” Katrina exclaimed.

“Monokuma obviously put thought into this, with all these rules, so I doubt he came unprepared.” Vincent said, “Who’s to say he doesn’t have any tricks up his sleeve?”

“What do you mean by that?” I asked.

“There’s been preparation into this, and he will continue this game, no matter the lengths. This game will start, it’s just a matter of when.” Vincent said.

“Like your approach is any better.” Elizabeth commented.

“It is, I realize that I’m at risk, so I’m not going to be risking my life doing anything stupid.” Vincent said.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Katrina asked angrily.

“I mean that I’m not working with any of you, any number of you could be plotting a murder right now, and I’m not going to be the victim.” Vincent said before walking out of the cafeteria.

With that, there were only 10 of us left in the room.

“I swear..” Katrina mumbled.

“His approach isn’t the wisest.” Mary said.

“He’s gonna get himself killed.” Thomas commented.

“So what are we gonna be doing?” I asked.

“How about we meet here every morning, to keep tabs on everyone, and for and updates on escaping?” Penelope suggested.

“That seems fine.” I responded.

“This is reasonable, very well, we’ll meet here every morning following the announcement.” Warrick stated, “And please alert the 5 not present about this.”

“Why not Vincent?” Jeane asked.

“He seems keen on not cooperating with us, leave him be.” Warrick said.

“Well, I still think telling him would be a good idea.” I said, even though he wouldn’t come, I still felt he needed to know.

“If you want to do that, fine. But do it in your own time.” Warrick said.

“Is there anything else we should talk about?” David asked.

“It doesn’t look like it.” Lucy said quietly.

“Well, then we should-” David said before being interrupted.

*Ding Dong, Bing Bong*

“What?” David said.

Then the monitor in the room turned on, getting all of our attention.

“Ahem,” It was the bear, “It is now 10 PM, Nighttime will soon be taking effect, and certain rooms will be locked off for the night momentarially. Have a happy first night in the killing game!”

Once it was done, the monitor turned off.

“Looks like we’ll have to leave.” Warrick said.

“And why’s that?” Elizabeth asked.

“If you read the rules, the Cafeteria is locked off at nighttime, so we have to leave, got it?” Warrick explained aggressively.

After that, he walked out, and the rest of us follow suit out of the cafeteria. A few people left directly to the dorms, but I stuck back.

“Those 6 must already be in their rooms, I doubt their exploring.” Thomas said, and then he walked to the dorms.

“I still don’t want to.” Lucy mumbled to Katrina.

“Fine, I’ll walk you there, but I’m gonna go alert the others after, fine?” Katrina suggested.

“Fine.” Lucy responded.

The two then walked off to the dorms.

“We should probably get going too, huh?” David asked me.

“Oh, yeah we should.” I responded, then we started to walk to the dorms.

“I still can’t drop the feeling somebody is already plotting a murder.” David said.

“Well, we won’t know, but we can hope that nobody does.” I responded.

“I’d think taking some action would be the best option, but whatever floats your boat.” He said.

Then we arrived at the dorms.

“Well, see you tomorrow.” I said.

“You too! Night!” He said before walking off to his room, which was at the end of the hall.

I then entered my room, took off the suit top, and plopped myself on my bed. A lot had happened today, and it wasn’t a dream. But all I could do now is go to sleep, I’m gonna need it.

Then everything started fading to black as I fell asleep.


	5. Chapter 1: Despair's Academy Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The second day starts.

*Ding Dong, Bing Bong*

“This is your Morning Announcement! It is now 8 AM, rooms that were locked off at night will be opened. Let’s have a Happy day in the killing game!”

It was the bear again.

I remembered everything that had happened yesterday, I sighed and got myself up. I walked over and put my suit top on, and got ready for the day.

* * *

After I got ready, I walked out of my room, and wasn’t surprised to see some people walking out as well.

“S-so we’re meeting in the cafeteria?” Christopher asked.

“Well duh, I just said so, Come on!” David responded, bringing Christopher with him.

I decided to walk to the cafeteria on my own, it wasn’t anything special.

Upon arriving, I noticed that only a few people were missing, Vincent, Madison, Jeane and Cole.

I decided to sit at one of the empty tables.

“Sorry for being late!” Jeane said, arriving after me.

“Relax, there isn’t any set time for this.” Paul said reassuredly.

“Yes, but try to arrive earlier, same goes to you Garrett.” Warrick said.

“Yeah sure.” I responded quickly, “But where’s Madison and Cole?”

“Cole said he had to look for something in the library, and I have no idea for Madison.” David said.

“O-oh, She’s fine,” Christopher said, “She’s a deep sleeper.”

“And how do you know this?” Warrick asked.

“She told me last night!” Christopher said in defense, “It was after she brought me to my room, we talked for a while.”

“I’ll believe you, for now.” Warrick said.

“Moving on, anyone find anything noteworthy?” Penelope asked.

“I looked in the kitchen earlier, apparently it restocks every night.” Natalie said.

“And how did you figure this out?” Penelope asked.

“It says so on a note on the wall.” Natalie explained, “Apparently Monokuma put it there.”

“And he’s so trustworthy.” Elizabeth said sarcastically.

“He’s holding us captive for this ‘game’, and he seems determined for it to happen, and starving us would be counterproductive to his goal.” Mary said.

“Whatever you say purple.” Elizabeth said.

“Hmpf” Mary grunted, showing dislike to Elizabeth.

“I want to say something!” Katrina said, “Why is there nothing to do here?”

She made a point, there wasn’t that much to do on the 1st floor.

“She has a point, why is there not a lot to do?” Thomas asked offhandedly.

“He’s trying to draw us into murder.” Warrick said.

“W-what?” Christopher asked nervously.

“It’s simple, if we don’t have a lot to do, our minds will move closer to attempting murder.” He explained.

“That seems like what he is trying to do.” Mary replied.

“Whatever, I can handle boredom, my talent’s all that anyways..” Lucy said.

“It’s not boring! It’s exciting if anything!” Katrina said, “Luck is unpredictable!”

“Luck is interesting, it’s something unpredictable, for now.” Mary said.

That sounded ominous.

“I’m leaving.” Lucy said, putting her hoodie up and leaving.

“Hey!” Katrina called out, “Wait for me!” she then followed Lucy out of the cafeteria.

“I suppose it’s about time we end this,” Warrick said, “Meeting over, see you all later.”

Warrick then walked out.

“I think I’ll-” I said before being interrupted.

“Hey guys!” It was Madison, and she looked like she had just woken up, “Did I miss the meet?”

“You missed all of it.” Mary said.

“Dang it! I need to sleep earlier..” She said nonchalauntly.

* * *

After that we all decided to go on our own, I chose to go to my room, but now I had nothing to do. After a while, I decided it would be best if I talked and learned about my fellow classmates, it couldn’t be that hard, would it?

After getting ready a little, I walked out of my room and started to walk around, thinking that would be the best way to find someone. So I walked around, passing into the commons, and it’s open area, and I eventually wandered into the entrance hall, and it was here I found Vincent standing next to the office door.

“Oh, Hey Vincent!” I called out  as I walked over.

“Wha- Ugh, what do you want?” He asked.

“I was just walking around and happened to walk here.” I responded.

“Then keep going.” He said.

The I remembered something.

“Oh yeah, We’re also having meetings in the Cafeteria in the morning, if you’d ever like to come by.” I said.

“Like I said, no. Now leave.” He said coldly.

I did as told and continued moving on, he had to be less cold, it wasn’t good to be like that in this situation. I then arrived at the library, and decided to enter it.

“THERE’S NOTHING!” Is the first thing I heard, and after that a book hit the wall.

I was dumbfounded, why was Cole-?

“Don’t mind him, he’s just venting his anger.” Mary said calmly, sitting in the center of various books.

“From what?” I asked.

“The lack of there being anything about his memories here.” She responded.

“Shut it! I’m sure there’s something here!” Cole yelled out before looking again.

“There isn’t.” Mary commented offhandedly.

“And how would you know!?” Cole asked angrily.

“I doubt the mastermind would leave your memories lying around.” Mary said.

“W- Nevermind! I’ll see you guys later!” He then stormed off.

“He seems awfully out of character.” I said.

“Amnesia will do that to you, or him at least.” Mary said.

“So, is it okay if I stay and talk with you for a bit?” I asked.

“I’d of thought you’d spend time with someone else, but sure.” She said.

I sat down next to her, well, more like right outside her book ring.

“So, uh, what are you doing?” I asked.

“Catching up on some reading.” She responded.

“But with this many books?”

“It’s for some contest the group entered a while back.”

“Group..?”

“Yes, group. I’m part of a research group, though most people have only heard of me, the one credited for that cure and such.”

“That’s cool, what’re they like?”

“We’re like a family in some respects, but I mostly stick to my research and tests.”

“Must be nice seeing your friends everyday.”

“That’s.. Mostly correct.” She said, hesitating a little.

“Mostly?”

“Well, I did go into conflict with one of my ‘friends’ when I was scouted, she said she should’ve been accepted instead.”

“Was she always like that?”

“Not exactly, she’d acted as if we were rivals but-” She was interrupted by the library door opening.

“Oh- hey!” It was Natalie, “What are you guys up to?”

“Just discussing.” Mary stated.

“Okay then, don’t mind me! I’m just looking for something!” Natalie said as she walked to the back.

“That was odd.” I said.

“Not really, but now I’d like to ask you a question.” She said.

“What is it?”

“Why do you think the academy accepted you?”

“Well, all I think I’ve done is written a few articles about history.” I said, and it was true, I haven’t done that much to become the ‘Ultimate Historian’, certainly not as much as some people here.

“Interesting, thank you, but I should be leaving now.”

“What?”

“I’ve gathered what I was looking for, I suppose I should see you later then.” Then she left.

That was odd, she didn’t even put her books up.

I decided it would be useless to sit around, so I got up and left, there were other people to talk to. I walked around again, passing by the 3 classrooms and ending up in the commons again.

It was at that point David called me over.

“Oh, Hey Garrett! Come over here, let’s talk!” He called out.

He was sitting on a bench with Elizabeth, the two seemed to have been talking before he noticed me.

I wasn’t going to get out of it, so I just trudged on over to him.


	6. Chapter 1: Despair's Academy Part 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The day continues, along with Garrett discussing with his fellow students.

I trudged along, and after not too long, sat down next to David.

“So, whatcha up to?” David asked me.

“Nothing much, got done with talking with Mary a while ago.” I said.

“Oh cool, how was it?” He asked.

“She was fine, she’s just felt a little artificial.” I said.

“Yeah,” Jean chimed in, “She’s almost always like that, which feels weird.”

“Well that’s just who she is, isn’t it? Nothing particularly wrong with it.” David said, “But lets get onto something else.”

“Yeah, I of all people should be getting into gossip or the like.” Jeane said.

“Why is that.” I asked her.

“Well, being in the acting industry, people spread quite a lot of rumors about who’s in what, and what you’re doing in your personal life. It’s quite annoying at times.” Jeane explained.

“That’s annoying?” David asked rhetorically, “Try having people criticize you for having a “bias” on a daily basis, but bringing joy to people more than makes up for it.”

“Whatever floats your boat David.” Jeane said.

I stayed silent, I’d never gotten really anything annoying because of my talent.

“So, what’s it like, traveling and stuff?” I asked David.

“Oh, It’s nice, seeing new places and people. Too bad we fly everywhere, it’d be nice to see some smaller places occasionally.” He responded, “Have you guys ever traveled?”

“Not often.” Jeane replied simply

“I do, I travel around more than others, it feels nice to get outside and talk with people.” I said.

“That’s cool.” David replied.

“Thanks.” I replied.

“So, question. How did you get into comedy?” Jeane asked David.

“Hmm, well, I started with being the jokester within my friend group, and I eventually moved into stand-up. And the rest is history.” He replied, “But now, how did you get into acting?”

“Okay! I started in elementary, and I was shy at first, but I eventually got more into it, it’s easy to get rid of stage fright once you get good at acting.” Jeane explained.

“Cool, now Garrett, How did you get into History like you did?” He asked me.

“Oh, well in middle school I usually ended up in the library in my free time, and I always had some interest in some historical figures, and it just grew after that I guess.” I replied.

“That’s less interesting than I thought it could’ve been, but it’s good that you’re passionate about it,” David said, “Unlike Lucy, she needs to have more faith in her talent.”

“I would disagree, I mean, why does the academy even need a talent like that?” Jeane said.

“Hey, I get that ‘luck’ doesn’t seem like much of a talent, but it shouldn’t be a bother, Lucy’s nice, if not self-doubtful of herself, so I wouldn’t berate her talent.” I said.

“Whatever you say” Jeane said sarcastically.

After a moment of silence David spoke up.

“Well, I’m gonna go talk to someone else, nice talk you guys!” David said before getting up and leaving.

At that same time, Jeane left to do whatever she had to, and I was left alone. There wasn’t anything for me to do here, so I decided to walk around for a bit, and after little I ended up in front of the store I had seen yesterday. The inside seemed like what you’d see from a thrift shop, shelves on the walls filled with various items. At the center was a counter with a “Monomono Machine”. I was confused.

“What is this?” I muttered to myself.

“I can answer that!” It was the bear, “You can buy gifts from that machine!”

“Gifts.” I said, clearly doubtfully.

“Yes, gifts!” It replied, “You can buy them using “Monocoins”!  Which you can find around the academy!”

“Okay, but how can I be sure they will be safe?” I asked.

“Gah! I already told the last guy! You can’t!” It explained angrily, “Have anything else to ask?”

“No.” I said, wanting him to leave.

“Fine!” It said, as it walked away.

I stood in silence for a few seconds, then I left, figuring the room to be more or less useless for the moment. I then walked to the cafeteria, inside was Thomas in the corner, he seemed like he was working on something, Elizabeth talking to Warrick, and Penelope, she seemed to be reading something.

“Hey guys.” I said.

“Hey.” Thomas said, simply waving at me.

“Oh hey!” Penelope said, looking up from her book, “Sit down, I’d like to talk.”

“Okay” I said as I walked over to sit down.

“How are you?” She asked.

“Fine I guess, you?” I replied.

“Good, considering the situation.” She replied, “So, what’ve you been up to today?”

“Nothing much, I’ve mostly talked to people, but that’s it.” I said.

“That’s good, considering that we’ll be living with each other for a while.” She said.

“‘A While’? Aren’t you the one that suggested we look for an escape route?” I asked.

“Hey! I said a while, not a day! Regardless, we should get to know each other, weren't we all going to be classmates anyways?” She said.

“Well yeah, that’s what I’ve been doing, but the bear makes it all feel weird.” I said.

“Yeah, Monokuma.. Why is he even doing this?” She replied.

“Don’t know, but we’ll just have to find out eventually, we can hope for that at the very least.” I said.

“You seem optimistic,” She said, “I like that.”

“Well it’s easy to be once you’ve seen how far humans have come in the past few centuries, and it can really only get better.” I said.

“Well we all have our reasons for being who we are.” She stated, “I’ve met a lot of people over the years, all of them being unique in their own way. That’s what makes humans interesting, we’re all different.”

“Interesting philosophy, the likes of which belong to the ancient greeks.” I said jokingly.

“Well if you’re gonna compliment my ideas then-” She said.

*Ding Dong, Bing Bong*

All of us in the room turned to the monitor.

“Ahem,” It was the bear, “It is now 10 PM, Nighttime will soon be taking effect, and certain rooms will be locked off for the night momentarially. Have a happy night in the killing game!”

Then it turned off.

“Today felt short.” I said.

“Well, time flies when you spend time with your friends!” Penelope said, “Night!”

She then walked out of the cafeteria, Thomas soon followed her. I left after him, Warrick and Elizabeth following soon after. Then after some walking, I was back in my room. Then I laid on my bed.

‘What did the bear have in store for us?’ I thought, he said he had something, so what could it be? It couldn’t be anything that big, I mean, we all came here only a day or two ago. But it didn’t matter, we were isolated in this school, with the possibility of murder high, but with all that in my head, I soon drifted into sleep, awaiting the next day.


	7. Chapter 1: Despair's Academy Part 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Day 3 starts, and Monokuma is up to something.

*Ding Dong, Bing Bong*

“This is your Morning Announcement! It is now 8 AM, rooms that were locked off at night will be opened. Let’s have a happy day in the killing game!”

“Ugh…” I groaned, I was going to get really tired of that announcement

I got ready like yesterday, and prepared to head out to the cafeteria.

* * *

 When I arrived it was like yesterday, the only people missing were Vincent and Madison.

“Hey Garrett!” David greeted.

“Hey.” I responded.

I then took a seat at one of the tables.

“So it looks like the only one missing is-” Warrick said.

“Sorry! Was I late again?” It was Madison.

“No, you weren’t.” Natalie said.

“That’s good!” Madison said before sitting down.

“So, anyone find anything interesting yesterday?” Penelope asked everyone, “Cole?”

“I found nothing of use.” He responded.

There was nothing but silence from everybody else.

“Ugh, this is hopeless!” Paul said.

“No it isn’t! There is a way out, and we will find it!” Penelope responded.

“You’re awfully optimistic.” Cole said.

“Well you’d need to be in this situation!” Penelope responded.

“Whatever.” Cole responded.

“Onto more important issues, did anyone see Monokuma yesterday?” Warrick asked.

“N-no, Not that I’d like to either..” Christpher said.

“I saw him, He talked about the store he had set up.” Cole said.

“Oh, he talked to me there to.” I said.

“A shop? That’s something I hadn’t expected to see here.” Jeane said.

“He does expect us to be here for a while, but I don’t see why we’d need a shop.” Mary said.

“Probably to kill each other..” Lucy mumbled.

“No, he said it was for us to buy gifts for each other.” Cole said.

“That’s.. Unexpected.” Mary said.

“That’s cool! We can all be closer, and be better friends!” Katrina said, enthused.

“I find that hard to believe, why would he make it so we could grow closer?” Thomas pondered.

“Probably something to do with this game or something.” Elizabeth threw out.

“Yeah! What could it be?”

It took a few seconds to realize what happened.

“Gah!” Elizabeth yelled in surprise.

“What are you doing here?” Warrick asked the bear.

“Why must there be a reason?” It said. “Aren’t I your headmaster?”

“Answer the question.”

“Y-yeah, d-don’t you have a-anything better to do?” Christopher stuttered out.

“What do you want, you’re clearly here for something.” Madison asked.

“I want answers!” Monokuma said.

“You want answers? We clearly need more than you do.” Cole said.

“What I want is more important! Well, more than your lost memories!” It said, teasing Cole.

“Well if it’s so important, then get on with it.” Warrick said.

“Fine, I want to know why none of you are dead yet!”

“It’s because none of us are gonna fall in your game!” Penelope exclaimed.

“Yeah! None of us are gonna do it! Never!” Katrina followed.

“Why would we, we don’t have a reason to. You’ve just told us to.” Cole said.

“Wait.. That’s it!” Monokuma exclaimed, “You need some motivation..”

Before we knew it, The bear disappeared.

“That’s going to end well.” Mary said sarcastically.

“Never thought I’d hear sarcasm from you.” I said.

“Well you learn something new everyday.” She responded.

“Ugh! I swear I’m going to kill that bear!” David said.

“That wouldn’t be in your interest.” Cole said.

“Well why not!?” David said, clearly aggravated.

“You’ll end up dead, rules remember?” Cole explained.

“I swear..” David mumbled, “I’m leaving.”

David then left.

“This won’t end well.” Mary said.

“Hey Lucy, wanna go talk in my room?” Katrina asked.

“You’ll take me either way, but sure.” Lucy said.

“Yeah!” Katrina exclaimed, “Let’s go.”

After that everyone pretty much dispersed, and I stood outside of the cafeteria with nothing to do. I then decided to go to the library to get a book to read.

* * *

 “Oh, Hey Mary.” I said.

“Hello. Why are you here?” She responded.

“To get a book, why do you ask?” I answered.

“Well it appears that the library is locked, and I can’t figure out why.” She said.

“I can tell you that!” It was the bear.

“What do you want Monokuma?” Mary asked.

“You wanted to know why the library closed,” It answered, “Well, I’m using it! So scram!”

Then the bear left.

“That would explain it, but now I can’t get to my reading.” Mary said.

“Well, you could always talk to someone.” I suggested.

“I guess, I don’t think many people here would be that interested in chemistry or the like thought” She responded.

“What about Elizabeth? She could be interested in it.” I said.

“You have a point, but I doubt chemistry would lead to any “lines” as she calls them.” She said.

“What about Penelope, she’s friendly to most everyone.” I said.

“While I would talk to her on any other day, she seems particularly stressed today, more so than yesterday.” She responded.

“That’s not good, I hope we can help with that.” I said.

“Well you can do that, I’m going to look if there is anything I can use in the storage room, see you later.” She said before walking off.

I then decided to go to my room and rest for a little.

* * *

 After getting to my room I took a shower, redressed, and laid on my bed for a little. Then I heard knocking at the door.

“Coming!” I called out.

I got up and walked over to the door, opening it to see Christopher.

“O-oh hey! Would you like to hang out? Or something like that?” He asked nervously.

“Sure, I have nothing to do.” I responded.

“Great!” He responded, “So, uh, Where do you want to talk?”

“My room’s fine,” I said.

“Okay..” He said as he walked in.

“So what did you want to talk about?” I asked.

“O-oh, nothing in particular, I just wanted to talk to someone. I don’t usually talk that much with people.” He said

“That would explain some stuff.” I said, “Okay, question, Why did you get into entrepreneurship?”

“W-well, I always thought that it’d help some people, making the workplace more organized and efficient, and helping them grow, getting some people jobs. I thought it’d be helpful. Too bad I only stay for a little..” He explained

“Why is that?” I asked.

“I always get a bit too paranoid sometimes, it’s what gets me kicked out over and over again. If I could get rid of it, that’d be nice.” He said.

“Well, if you work towards that, you can-” I said.

*Ding Dong, Bing Bong*

“Ahem, Prospect’s Academy has an announcement! All students must assemble at the library! Assuming they aren’t dead!”

“W-what!?” Christopher exclaimed.

“Don’t worry, it’s probably something harmless, let’s get going.” I said, trying to calm him down.

“O-okay..” He said.

Then the two of us left my room, and started to walk to the library.

“Hey guys!” It was Katrina, Lucy was accompanying her.

“Oh hey, how are you?” I asked her.

“Fine, why do you think Monokuma wants us?” Katrina asked.

“Probably something to do with this game.” Lucy commented.

“You’re probably right, but stop being so pessimistic, it’s better to open up with us all, we’re friends.” I said.

“Yeah, friends who’ll kill each other.” Lucy replied.

The walk was silent, but then we all arrived at the library, and we all entered.

“Do I have to be here?” Vincent asked the bear.

“Yes! Now wait till the rest of them get here!” It responded.

“So, why did you bring us here?” I asked it.

“You’ll see soon!” It responded.

Soon enough all of us arrived.

“Will you explain why you’ve gathered us here?” Warrick asked.

“Yeah! And whatever it is, we’ll beat it!” Penelope said.

“Geez, someone is enthusiastic.” Monokuma said.

“Get on with it.” Cole said.

“Okay, since there hasn’t been a corpse yet, I’ve decided to speed up the process!” It explained, “On the library computers you’ll see a video, watch the one with your name on it! You don’t wanna get someone else’s motive!”

“And do we have to watch them?” Warrick asked.

“Yessiree! Can’t leave till all of you have!” It said as it disappeared.

“Guess we have to.” Paul said as he walked over.

“Are we really going to do what Monokuma says?” Penelope asked.

“Unless we want to starve here, yes.” Cole said, “And I for one, want to see it.”

“Unfortunately we have to, so I’d get it over with.” Mary said.

After that, we all walked over to the computers to walk our ‘motives’, however reluctant.

I walked to the one that had my name on it's screen, put on the headset, and started the video.


	8. Chapter 1: Despair's Academy Part 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The students view their motives.

*Click*

The screen turned on, it was my family. This couldn’t be good.

“Hey Garrett!” It was Dad, “I hope you’re having a good time at the Academy!”

Yeah right.

“Yup, we hope you’re enjoying yourself, and making friends too!” Mom said.

“Yeah, with that boring talent of yours! C’mon, you know I’m joking, have a good time there, you’ll be seeing me next year!” My brother said enthusiastically.

My family was always more optimistic than most, more or less.

“Blech! This is too mushy and feel good!” It was the bear, here to ruin everything, “Let’s get to the meat of this video!”

The screen shut to black, and then it showed.. the house trashed and wrecked. As well as some blood splatters around the room. I was petrified.

“W-what?” I squeaked out.

“W-AAHHH!” Christopher screamed as he ran out of the library.

“T-this isn’t possible!” Paul said.

“What? H-he couldn’t be-!” Elizabeth said.

Most everyone had some variation of those reactions.

“Hmpf, I thought as much.” Warrick said, “This shouldn’t work.”

“Shouldn’t?” I asked.

“Well on more stable and hardened people won’t fall for it, and everyone else will be to afraid to go for it.So, goodbye.” He said as he walked off.

“H-hey! You can’t-!” Penelope called out.

“He won’t stop, and I wouldn’t go after him, we all need a… break after that.” Mary said.

“I.. Need to think about this.” Cole said, obviously getting something about his lost memories.

“Okay.” Penelope sighed, “Anyone that’d like to talk, I’ll be in the cafeteria..”

“I-I can’t- Katrina?” Lucy stuttered out.

“Yeah?” Katrina responded.

“I’d actually like to sleep over tonight..” Lucy responded.

“Okie doke!” Katrina responded, “Let’s get going.”

The two then left.

I stood around until the room had cleared a little and then began to walk to the cafeteria, I needed to talk to someone.

* * *

At the cafeteria there were only a few of us, far less than earlier today.

“So, what did everyone see?” Penelope asked, “I saw my parents..”

“I saw my family..” I said meekly.

“Saw the people I work with, then the studio was trashed.” Jeane said.

“Saw my friends.” David said.

“This must be tougher on some rather than others.” Mary said, “With some people having more at stake.

“This is bad, we were all somewhat united this morning, and now-!” Penelope said.

“Don’t worry about it!” David said, “I’m sure it’ll be fine, I mean, who here would commit a murder?”

“That question will not have a positive answer.” Mary said.

“Hey, we need to stay optimistic here. All we have to do is work hard to prevent this game from starting!” I said.

“That’s right, we need to work together-” David said.

*Ding Dong, Bing Bong*

We turned to the monitor.

“Ahem,” It was the bear, “It is now 10 PM, Nighttime will soon be taking effect, and certain rooms will be locked off for the night momentarially. Have a happy night in the killing game!”

“Tonight is gonna be a mess..” Jeane said as we all walked out of the cafeteria.

When we left, Mary, David, and Jeane continued to walk to the dorms, but Penelope stayed behind.

“Oh uh, why are you staying there?” I asked.

“Oh sorry! I’m just so stressed over all this.. I’m trying to be a leader, but it’s hard keeping everyone united with Monokuma, and now this motive is making it worse!” Penelope said.

“Hey calm down-“ I said.

“And now somebody might even be killed-!” She said.

“HEY!” I said, basically yelling, “Calm down, I know it’s hard and all, trying to lead in this situation, but don’t get too stressed over it. We’ll all have to work together to stop this game, not just yourself, so, just know we’re here for you.”

“W-, Thanks.” She said after a moment.

“So, see you tomorrow?” I said.

“Yeah, see you tomorrow.” She responded.

After that we walked to our rooms and I got ready and soon fell asleep.

* * *

*Ding Dong, Bing Bong*

“This is your Morning Announcement! It is now 8 AM, rooms that were locked off at night will be opened. Let’s have a happy day in the killing game!”

As I woke up I groaned, and got ready for the day, put my suit and glasses on, and other little stuff, and soon enough I was in the cafeteria.

“Hey Garrett!” David called out to me, “Come sit over here!” gesturing to a seat next to him.

“Sure.” I said, then I walked over to the chair and sat in it.

There were a few people missing, Cole, Warrick, Penelope, and Vincent, as always.

“Hey, why are Warrick and Penelope gone?” I asked.

“They haven’t been here, which is unusual for them.” Thomas responded.

“That’s concerning.” Natalie said.

“I’m sure they’re fine.” David said.

“B-but, what i-if-” Christopher said.

“I would certainly hope not.” Mary said.

“What about Cole?” Madison asked, “Isn’t he gone to?”

“Didn’t he get something about his memories, or something?” Paul said.

“That’s what I inferred.” Mary said.

“I’m just glad we’re all calm again,” David said, “No more down-y nonsense!”

I became a bit worried at this point.

“I’m going to go see if Penelope’s alright.” I said as I stood up.

“Why’s that?” Paul asked me.

“She was on edge last night, that’s probably it though.” I said, “Probably shouldn’t take long.”

I then walked out of the cafeteria and into the dorms and to Penelope’s room, which was at the back corner.

I knocked on the door for a response, “Penelope?”

There was no response.

I knocked again but harder this time, and again, no response.

At this point I got a concerned, and I turned the door handle.. Her dorm was unlocked. I pushed the door in, expecting something, but there was nothing. I looked around the room for something, and I found a note on her nightstand, and it read: “MPenelope, please come to the Laundry Room at 1 AM sharp, I have matters to discuss with you. - Madison”

‘What? Why would Madison need Penelope at night? Let alone after..’

At that moment I grabbed the note and began to run to the laundry room.

As I was running through the commons, I heard somebody, it was probably David, but I kept running. I arrived at the laundry room, but I slipped?

“Augh!” I grunted, I had fallen on my back, but why was there water on the floor?

I got back up quickly, and opened….

 

the...

 

 

door…

 

 

I fell on my back again, and I scooted back onto the hall’s wall, petrified.

Penelope was lying dead in a pool of her own blood.


	9. Chapter 1: Despair's Academy Part 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The students investigate.

I then heard footsteps coming from the hallway.

“Garrett!” It was David followed by other people from the cafeteria, “What are you doing!?”

They hadn’t seen it yet.

“There you are!” David said, “Why are you acting so-!”

“T-there! Room!” I stuttered out.

“The laundry room?” Madison asked.

“What could possibly-” David said, but before he could finish, “W-what?”

“She- Penelope-” Elizabeth said.

*Ding Dong, Dong Ding*

We all turned to a screen in the hallway, petrified.

“A body has been discovered! Now, after a certain amount of time has passed, a Class Trial will be held!

“C-class trial?” I said.

“Yup!” Monokuma said, popping up out of nowhere, “As I said, after a certain amount of time, we’ll hold the class trial!”

“So what’ll we be doing in the meantime?” Warrick asked.

“Why I’m glad you asked!” Monokuma said, “You’ll be investigating the crime!”

“B-but we’re only teenagers!” Christopher said, obviously trying to not pass out.

“Haha! Doesn’t matter!” Monokuma said, “But I’ll be seeing you soon!”

After that we were all left in silence, well until Elizabeth broke it.

“Warrick!” Elizabeth said walking over to him, “Where have you been!?”

“The library, I was checking something out.” Warrick responded.

“You had me worried..” Elizabeth said.

“So now we have to investigate. I’d hoped this wouldn’t happen, but here we are.” Warrick said.

“Why are you acting so calm about this!?” David asked, “Penelope just died, don’t you feel anything!?”

“I’m just being realistic, if we don’t solve this, we all die. We’re down one because of Vincent, so we need to get to this now.” Warrick responded.

While he was being cold, he had a point.

“So if you wouldn’t mind, we have to investigate now.” Warrick said.

“Fine, whatever.” David responded.

I pulled myself up and got myself mentally ready, I had to investigate.

_Investigation Start!_

I felt a ring in my pocket, it was my Student Handbook, I opened it and a new tab had appeared, labeled “Monokuma Files”, I opened it and it read:

“Monokuma File 1

The Victim was Penelope McGovern.

Her body was discovered on the floor of the Laundry Room.

She died at approximately 1:27 AM, and was found at around 8:19 AM.

The victim experienced blunt force trauma to the front of the skull, resulting in death. There were also minor lacerations on the back of the head, and major ones on the front.”

This certainly gave some important information.

_Truth Bullet Added: “Monokuma File 1”_

I put my Handbook away, and got focused again.

“Garrett.” Mary said, getting my attention.

“Oh- Hey, what did you need?” I asked her.

“What is that paper in your hand?” She asked me.

“Oh yeah! I found it in her room, it led me here, do you need a look at it? I’ve already read it.” I said.

“Yes actually.” She said, and then I handed it over. “Yes, this is useful, it gives her a reason to leave at night, and there appears to be some erasure at the start. Very interesting.”

“How so?” I asked.

“The erasure may display a change in targets, or something of the like, here you go, I’ve gotten what I needed.” She said, handing the note back.

_Truth Bullet Added: “Penelope’s Note”_

After that, I felt reluctance, but decided to enter the Laundry room. Inside held a tale, of which I’ll solve piece by piece. I first noticed where Penelope lied, she was in front of the 1st Washing Machine, it appeared to have been smashed into, at least the glass front was. There was also dried blood on the top half of it, and it had also appeared to have been used recently, it probably caused the large bloody puddle on the floor.

_Truth Bullets Added: “1st Washing Machine”, and “Bloody Puddle”_

I got back up to see Vincent!?

“Wha-!?” I said in surprise.

“What?” He said, “Is it such a surprise to see a hunter deal with corpses?”

“But why?”

“I was checking to see if the File was accurate, and it appears to be, so I’m done with it.” He said, getting up and walking to a wall.

I walked over, and in the 3rd machine, I discovered clothes.

“These shouldn’t be here!” Madison said, also discovering it.

“What do you mean?” I asked her.

“My clothes are in here! They shouldn’t be!” She responded.

“Why? I don’t see the problem.” I said confused.

“Look, there are 4 machines right? The first 2 are for girls, and the other 2 are for boys, this is a boy’s one, so why are they here?” She explained.

“That makes sense, who else’s clothes are in there?” I asked.

“Uh, lemme check.. Mine, Natalie’s, David’s and Cole’s.” She responded.

“So Natalie’s shouldn’t be there either then.” I said.

“Yeah, What idiot puts them in the same washing machine?.” She answered.

“Yeah, well, I should get investinating again.” I said.

“Okay!” She said.

_Truth Bullet Added: “Laundry Room Sorting”, and “Washing Machine Contents”_

I walked away and ended up at the end, right before the incinerator room. I entered it, and it wasn’t on, which was good, the culprit probably couldn’t have burned any evidence.

_Truth Bullet Added: “Incinerator’s Use”_

I walked out of the room, and I saw Jeane fiddling with something on the wall.

“Jeane?” I said, “What are you-?”

“Oh, this!” She responded, “It’s a timer, we had these at all the stage’s I’ve performed at! I’m checking it for evidence, and I’ve found some!”

“What is it?” I asked.

“Well, two of the washing machines appear to have been set off, the 3rd one was set off manually at some point, and the 1st one was timed to be set off at 7 AM.”

“That’s an hour before the Morning announcement.” I said.

“Yeah! The culprit probably used it to remove some evidence while we were all asleep.” She responded.

“Thanks! This was helpful.” I thanked.

“No problem! Our lives are on the line, so it wouldn’t hurt to help.” She said.

_Truth Bullet Added: “Timer Records”_

After that I looked to the table in the middle of the room, there wasn’t much on it, but one thing stood out, a hammer with blood on the claws of it. I then picked it up to get a look at it.

“That’s it!” Thomas said, walking over to me.

“What’s it?” I asked.

“That hammer, I’ve been using it for my off-hand project, I couldn’t find it this morning, but here it is.” he said.

“Well that’s useful.” I said, “Oh! Also, when do you wake up?”

“Eh.. I’d say close to Thirty-ish minutes before the morning announcement. Y’know, living on the sea and all that!” He said.

“Thanks.” I said.

_Truth Bullet Added: “Bloody Hammer”_

After this I was sure I got all I could from the room, and headed out to see if there was anything else I could find.

Outside the room I found some people talking.

“Oh, hey guys.” I said.

“Hello Webster.” Natalie said, Paul, Katrina, and Lucy were there too.

“What were you talking about?” I asked.

“We were talking about McGovern and how somebody would kill her of all people.” Natalie said.

“Yeah, she was nice, and I’d like to help, but I can’t stand the sight of a dead body..” Paul said.

“I’m here to help Lucy grieve!” Katrina said.

“I don’t think that’s how it works Katrina.” I said.

“It isn’t, but I don’t mind company after.. That.” Lucy said.

“Well, it should be good to know you have people that care for you.” I said.

“W-whatever.” Lucy responded.

“Let’s move on!” Katrina said, “Uh, Natalie! Why do you always use our last names?”

“Because in ROTC we were always referred to by them, and I’ve just gotten used to it. Natalie answered.

“I still think it’s weird..” Katrina mumbled.

“Well I think I should get back to investigating.” I said.

“See you then.” Paul said.

I decided to go back to Penelope’s room, there might be something I missed. When I got there I started to look through her room to find anything, but I hadn’t found anything.

*Ding Dong, Bing Bong*

“Well then, your time is up! Everyone, please report to the elevator, across from the storage room, and we’ll be ready for the class trial!” Monokuma said.

I groaned at this, hopefully I had enough evidence for the trial. I headed over to where the elevator was, and soon after, everybody was here.

“So we’re all here.” Warrick said.

“We see that Warrick!” Elizabeth said.

“So, what now?” Paul asked.

“We wait for Monokuma,” Warrick responded, “But you, why were you gone all day?” He asked Cole.

“Slicing throats- Thinking about my memories! What else would I be doing!?” Cole responded.

“Sure..” Warrick said sarcastically.

“S-so when are we going to start?” Christopher asked.

“Momentarially!” The bear said.

“Gah!” Christopher reacted.

“Calm down Christopher!” David said.

“As I said, you may now board the elevator! Then we will begin the trial!” Monokuma said, before leaving.

“No reason to delay it.” Natalie said before walking into it.

“N-no reason!?” Christopher said, “Either all of us or one person will die!”

“It’s unfortunate, but the reality we’re living in.” Paul said as he walked into it.

Then, we had all stepped onto it, the door closed, and it began to descend. The ride down was silent, everybody was probably thinking about the trial or something similar. But when we arrived, we all saw the trial room, 16 podiums in the middle of the room, and a larger stand in the back, that’s where the bear was.

“Welcome students, to the trial room! Please, stand behind the podium with your name on it!” It said.

“This really is the trial room..” Paul said.

“And how would you know that?” Lucy asked.

“I-I play a lot of law games!” He said in defence.

Then we were all at our podiums, in a clockwise order we were sorted, Paul, Natalie, Mary, Cole, Me, a sign?, David, Jeane, Christopher, Lucy, Thomas, Katrina, Vincent, Elizabeth, Madison, and Warrick.

It was an unfortunate situation, but somebody here did it, somebody killed Penelope and started the game, and we’d have to find it out or we’d all die.

The trial had begun.


	10. Chapter 1: Despair's Academy Part 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Class Trial begins.

_Class Trial Start._

“Now then, let’s begin with a basic explanation of the class trial! You all will debate and discuss who you think the blackened is, and when you’ve all come to a conclusion, you’ll vote on who you think the culprit is! If you get it right, I’ll only punish the blackened, and the rest of you will continue the killing game! But if you get it wrong, I’ll punish everyone besides the blackened!” The bear explained, “Now then, let’s get to the trial!”

“Okay, but, what’s that?” Paul asked, gesturing to the sign, “And why is Penelope on it?”

“Oh that?” It said, “Well it wouldn’t be fair to leave a student out because they were dead!”

“Okay.. but it creeps me out..” Paul responded.

“Now, before we get distracted again, shouldn’t we begin to unravel this murder?” Warrick said.

“That would be wise.” Mary said.

“But where should we start?” Thomas asked, “We don’t have that much to lead on.”

“W-well we have the Monokuma File.” Christopher said, “We could go from t-there.”

“Great idea!” David exclaimed, “But what can we say?”

“She was definitely killed at night,” I said, “Which would mean-”

“That none of us have alibis.” Cole said, interrupting me, “Meaning any of us could have done it.”

“As much as I dislike him, I’d have to agree with Amnesia over here.” Jeane said.

“Any of us.. What a way to start this game.” Warrick said.

“Like a football match!” Madison blurted out.

“Getting back on track, there’s nobody with an alibi, so-” Cole said.

“Actually,” Lucy said, “Katrina and I were in the same room last night, neither of us could do it.”

“And how can we be sure you’re not lying?” Cole asked her, “And not working together to escape?”

“Because only the Blackened can leave, an assistant would be useless.” Elizabeth said.

“Whatever you say Pinkie.” Cole said.

“Hey!” Elizabeth called back.

“So that means neither Katrina or I could have done it.” Lucy said.

“Cool.” Paul said, “Say, were you two-”

“No.” Lucy said aggressively.

“So we’re down to 13 suspects.” Warrick said, “We should bring our ideas forward now, to bring us closer to the culprit.”

“Where do we start?” Katrina asked.

“How about the way Penelope died? That probably has something.” Natalie threw out.

“That’s what I was getting to.” Warrick said.

So we were going to discuss how she died, this.. Wasn’t going to be easy.

_Non-Stop Debate_

“So, we know she was killed in the Laundry Room.” Natalie said.

“Duh.” Jeane interjected.

“So how was she killed?” Natalie asked?

“It’s blatantly obvious.” Vincent said.

“Ooh! I Know!” Katrina said.

“Really?” Vincent said.

“They must’ve taken that hammer, smashed the machine, and pushed her into it!” Katrina reasoned.

_“No that’s wrong!”_

_Break!_

“...What?” Katrina said, “How could that be wrong!?”

“Well, the hammer the hammer has blood on it, so it was probably used to attack Penelope, not the washing machine.” I explained.

“What if they dropped it in the blood then?” She retorted.

“Well the blood is only on one side, the clawed one, and-“ I said.

“The claws match the lacerations on her neck.” Vincent said, “So it was used to attack Penelope.”

“And how would you know?” Katrina said to Vincent.

“Because I’m experienced with wounds, being a hunter and all.” He replied.

“F-fine.” She said, “I guess that’s what happened.”

“So my hammer was used as a weapon, what does that tell us?” Thomas asked.

“W-what do you mean?” Christopher asked the sailor.

“That’d explain the wounds on her back, but the Monokuma File says she died of blood force trauma, and we then don’t know how they broke the washing machine.” Thomas explained.

“Well, I think they’re connected,” Mary said, “she was lying in front of it.”

‘Then how were they connected?” I thought, ‘It couldn’t be good…”

_B-A-S-H-E-D I-N-T-O_

_Bashed Into!_

“I think I know how..” I said meekly.

“How then?” Warrick said, “Spit it out!”

“Well,” I said, “Her head, may have been bashed into the machine’s glass.”

“That’s gruesome!” Elizabeth said.

“Indeed, an unfortunate way to go.” Cole said.

“I know,” I said, “But it’s the only-“

_“Your argument is an Act!”_

“What?”

“There’s no way that happened!” Jeane argued, “She couldn’t have been bashed into it!”

“How can that be? It’s the only logical conclusion given her wounds!” I argued.

“The Hammer! The culprit could’ve used it after hitting her from behind!”

“But then she would’ve been facing upwards, and she faced downwards!”

“It has to be! How else could they have-”

“She was bashed into it, there’s no other explanation given the circumstances!” I said, finishing the argument.

“S-so somebody really did that to her?” Christopher asked.

“It appear so.” Mary said, “The culprit attacked her with the hammer, knocking her down, and bashed her into the machine.”

“So we have a clear line of events, but what now?” Warrick said, “We haven’t thinned our list of suspects at all.”

“Well actually, there is something I know..” Jeane said, “There’s a timer in the laundry room, and 2 of them have been used today.”

“Is that so?” Warrick said.

“Well yes, the 1st one was set to go of at 7 AM, and the 3rd one was set off manually.” Jeane explained.

‘And how is this important?” Paul said.

“Madison and I found clothes in the 3rd one.” I said.

“We did, we found Mine, Natalie’s, David’s, and Cole’s!” Madison said enthusiastically.

“Why are so happy? That implicates you!” Lucy said.

“What?” Is what Madison responded.

“The culprit must’ve put theirs in with the other 3 to disguise themselves.” Lucy explained.

“So the culprit must be of those 4.” Warrick said, “That lowers our suspect list immensely.”

“B-but I couldn’t have done it!” David exclaimed.

“Then debate for your life!” Cole said to him.

“Your a suspect too!” David said.

_Non-Stop Debate_

“I didn’t do it.” Natalie said.

“Straight to the point I see,” Cole said, “Well then, why would I be out?”

“That’s what we’re trying to figure out Einstein!” Paul said.

“Well I have an alibi of sorts, recall my motive?” Cole said, “I was thinking about them last night.”

“I couldn’t murder anybody! Let alone Penelope..” Madison said.

“Something would beg to differ.” Mary said.

“I didn’t do it!” David said, “My clothes shouldn’t even be there!”

_“No that’s wrong!”_

_Break!_

“W-what?” David said.

“Well, that’s wrong. Your clothes _should_ be there.” I said. “Recall the laundry room’s sorting.”

“The what now?” Natalie said.

“The room’s sorting, the first 2 are for girls, the latter 2 are for boys.” I explained.

“Which leaves us with 2.” Warrick said, “Madison, and Natalie.”

“Actually, there’s evidence to prove otherwise.” Mary said, “Garrett.”

“Oh yeah, the note I found in Penelope’s room.” I said.

“And only Now you are bringing this up!?” Paul said.

“Shush Paul, let him speak.” Warrick said.

“Well, it says: ‘Penelope, please come to the Laundry Room at 1 AM sharp, I have matters to discuss with you. - Madison’” I said, reading it out.

“Well, we have a clear suspect then.” Warrick said, “Madison.”

“W-wait what?” Madison said in shock.

“Well then Jacobs,” Natalie said, “Anything to say?”

“I-I d-didn’t kill anybody..” Madison sputtered out.

_Class Trial Intermission._


	11. Chapter 1: Despair's Academy Part 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The trial continues.

So Madison did it? This didn’t feel right, would she really kill someone? I’ve only know her, and everyone else, for a few days, but this didn’t feel right.

“So, Madison, why’d you do it?” Warrick said.

“W-well..” Madison stuttered.

“Why are you letting her talk?” Paul said, “She clearly did it.”

“I’d prefer to leave this trial with a reason for her murder, and not leave it to history.” Warrick said.

That perked my interest, but I remained silent.

“Let’s just go to a vote already.” Natalie said, “She’s obviously done it.”

“Hey! Give her a chance to defend herself!” David said.

“E-even if we did, is there anything else t-to look at?” Christopher asked.

“Of course there is!” David said, “Does anyone have anything?”

“Well..” Lucy said, “Nevermind, it’s probably nothing.”

“We should get voting already!” Elizabeth spouted.

“I would respectfully disagree.” Cole said.

“Ugh! This is going nowhere, we’re split even-!” Jeane said.

_“Split!?”_

It was the first time the bear spoke since the trial started.

“Yes, obviously!” Natalie said to the bear.

“Well that won’t do!” Monokuma responded, “We’ll just have to settle this like a normal school!”  
“How is any of this normal?” I muttered.

“Please select the option on your trial pad!” It said, mentioning the pads that had lit up on our podiums. There were 2 options, Vote or Wait.

I near instantly hit ‘Wait’, and soon enough everyone had hit their buttons.

“Now, Prospect’s Academy presents, the debate chamber!” It said hitting a button.

After that, the trial room’s center floor slid away, and our podiums began to move around. By then end, there were 2 rows, I could only assume by which option we chose. On the ‘Wait’ side, were Me, Cole, David, Katrina, Lucy, Madison, and Mary. ‘Vote’ had Natalie, Christopher, Elizabeth, Jeane, Paul, Thomas, Vincent, and Warrick.

“Let the debate begin!” The bear said, letting us loose.

_Debate Scrum_

“All the **Evidence** points to her, for better or worse.” Warrick started.

“Who says we have all the evidence?” David retorted, “There has to be something else!”

“But we **Searched** everywhere during the investigation.” Vincent pointed out.

“Maybe there’s details we failed to notice.” Lucy argued.

“But she signed the **Note** , who else could have done it?” Elizabeth argued.

“The Culprit very well could have forged it, and why would they sign their own name?” Mary explained.

“Maybe she is **Stupid** enough to do that!” Jeane insulted.

“I’m not that dumb! Even then, it doesn’t hold up!” Madison argued.

“Even so, there’s **Nothing** to prove that she’s not the culprit!” Natalie finished.

“That has to be wrong!” I argued, “I doubt the culprit would sign a note to the victim using their first name! There has to be something we’re missing!”

_“This is our answer!”_

After we had made our points, the podiums returned to their previous positions.

“Fine, we look for your ‘missing’ evidence.” Natalie mumbled.

“So what is there to look for?” Thomas asked.

“It’s probably right under our noses, like a snake.” Lucy said.

“A s-snake!” Christopher said, not getting it.

“It’s not a real snake Christopher.” Katrina said, “But if it was, I’d-”

“This isn’t even related to the trial you idiots!” Jeane said.

I had to think, what could pull it away from Madison, she couldn’t have done it, it seems all too conveniently lined up, especially the note...

_How was the note set up?_

It was set to confuse us, and distract us from the real culprit.

_What was setup to confuse us?_

The sender’s name.

_How is it confusing?_

We assumed that it was the culprit’s name, at least, their first name.

Wait, that would mean-

“What are you thinking about?” Lucy asked me, “You seemed deep in thought.”

“Well, I was thinking, what if in the note, the ‘Madison’ wasn’t a first name, but a last name-” I said.

_“That’s Breaking Code!”_

“What? What do you mean?” I asked.

“There is no way that’s a last name!” Natalie said forcefully.

“Why is that?” I asked,  “It seems like a logical conclusion!”

“Because it would implicate me! And there’s nothing on that note to say that!” She argued.

_“No that’s wrong!”_

_Break!_

“What? How is what I said false!?” Natalie asked me.

“The erasure!” I said, “The erasure on the note proves that you’re the culprit!”

“Wha- How in any universe, does some damn erasure reveal me as the culprit!?” Natalie asked.

“Because the culprit didn’t erase it all, they left an M at the start, right before Penelope.” I said.

“M. M for McGovern, also known as Penelope’s last name.” Lucy said.

“That undoubtedly proves that-!” I said.

“That’s it? That’s all you got!? Because if that’s it, then I assure you that you’re wrong!” Natalie said, interrupting me.

This was out of character for her, even for being accused, I had definitely struck a nerve of sorts.

“I’m not wrong in my assertions, your reactions definitely tell me that!” I responded.

“My reactions!? I’ll show you a reaction!” Natalie responded, “I didn’t kill anybody, and I’ll be damned if you say so! He’d never forgive me if I murdered someone!” She yelled, “That M in the erasure means nothing! It’s nothing but coincidence!”

_Refer - People - By - Last Name_

_Break!_

“Gah!” Natalie yelled.

“You refer to people by their last name, you said so before the trial.” I said.

“T-that proves nothing!” Natalie responded.

“Oh just give it up already.” Cole said, for some reason.

“What do you want? You-” Natalie said.

“You’ve been outed as the killer, your reactions, don’t help your case. Talking about your brother certainly doesn’t help.” Cole said

“W-what..?” Was Natalie’s response, “How do you-?”

“Garrett, just end this already.” Warrick said to me, ending his silence, “You know what to do.”

“Okay then..” I said, “Let’s end this!”

_Closing Argument_

“The case began last night, when the culprit slipped a note to Penelope, telling her to meet with them at the laundry room at 1 AM. What she didn’t know, is who really sent the note, the culprit signing it in a way to incriminate another student, what they forgot, was that they left a small remnant of their speech pattern.

Penelope must have gone at some point, likely around the specified time, and set off to the laundry room, but importantly, leaving the note behind. When she arrived, she must have found the culprit lounging around in the room, preparing their crime. I don’t know what they did, but whatever it was, it went on for a little while, before the culprit finally decided to kill her.

Whenever they did, they grabbed a hammer, which they had taken from the cafeteria, and hit an unsuspecting Penelope in the back of her neck, knocking her over. But the culprit wasn’t finished, they tossed the hammer on the table, grabbed Penelope by the hair, and began to bash her head into the 1st Washing Machine’s glass front. That would eventually kill her, but, nevertheless they continued to do it, eventually breaking the glass open, but Penelope was long dead before that.

The culprit then resigned to cleaning up their crime, to get rid of any connection they had to it. First, they took off their bloody clothes, and set them into the 3rd washing machine, but to make it look normal, they put Madison’s, Cole’s, and David’s in as well, and they started it, washing away the blood. What wa wrong with it? The fact that the 3rd washing machine was for boys, and she had put her’s along with her unsuspecting scapegoat’s.

Lastly, she set the timer for the 1st machine, setting it to go off at 7 AM, an hour before we all usually wake up. It would attract the attention of us all, but also wash away the blood on the machine. The culprit, now finished, shut the laundry room door, and walked back to their room. Their crime finished, and a scapegoat framed. And we may have never know, had they been able to keep their habits hidden..

Am I wrong, Natalie Madison, The Ultimate ROTC Cadet!?”

_Break!_

“Well then?” Warrick asked Natalie, “Anything to say?”

“A-anything?” She responded.

“That’s what I said.” Warrick said.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea W-” Elizabeth said.

“I do. If you think I commit a murder, despite knowing that he would never forgive me for it..” Natalie paused, “Then you’re a fucking idiot! I’ve never been in that damn room-!”

“Oh put a sock in it!” Cole said angrily.

“Wha-?” Natalie said.

“You’ve been outed as the killer. Period. There’s no defending yourself!” Cole said.

“I-” Natalie said.

“He’s right, we’re virtually done here. We’re only waiting for-” Thomas said.

“Oh? Waiting? I can put an end to that real quick!” Monokuma said, “You all seem to have come to a conclusion, so let’s get to the long awaited Voting Time!”

Voting Time?

“Just vote for the person you think is the blackened on the pad, and make sure to do it! Not voting will result in punishment!” The bear explained.

As in death. Then the screen started, pictures for all of us. I selected the one with Natalie on it.

“Who will be chosen as the blackened? Will you make the right choice, or the dreadfully wrong one?”

Then we all waited for the bear to reveal our decision...


	12. Chapter 1: Despair's Academy Part 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Post-Trial.

“...You’re ab-so-lutely correct!” The bear announced, to our relief, “The blackened that killed Penelope McGovern.. Is your own military girl Natalie Madison!”

“Why?” Was the first thing I said, “Why did you kill Penelope!?”

“I-” Natalie said.

“Didn’t she spell it out? She obviously did it because of her brother.” Cole said.

“Her brother?” I said.

“Yes, her brother.” Cole said.

“What kind of idiot kills someone based off possibly fake information!?” Jeane asked.

“She would, obviously, and if she had restraint, none of us would be here right now.” Warrick said.

“All of us would be Dead right now, if it weren’t for Garrett.” Lucy said.

“If Warrick hadn’t delayed the vote-” Elizabeth said.

“Warrick sided with the vote side fashion-for-brains!” Katrina insulted.

“What did you say you-!” Elizabeth responded.

“Hey idiots, now’s not the time to fight, we have a murderer here.” Vincent said.

“You’d know all about killing, wouldn’t you? You isolationist-” Elizabeth said.

“Shut it you two!” David said.

“Fine.” Elizabeth said.

“Getting back on track, why’d you do it Natalie?” Warrick asked Natalie.

“Do you really want to know that..?” Natalie asked.

“We wouldn’t have asked otherwise.” Mary said.

She was right, and I was going to get some damn answers,

“Fine, I… did kill Penelope because of my brother..” Natalie said.

“Did you guys-?” Paul asked, for the second time today.

“No we did not! What kind of freak does that!?” Natalie responded.

“That was gross of you to ask.” Madison said.

“Well-!” Paul responded.

“Ahem.” Warrick gestured, shutting them up.

“I- We, grew up together, we were the only two, our parents had left us to an orphanage, and in school, I had joined the ROTC program, and well, he went off on his ‘adventures’ in his time. But we always stuck together. And I couldn’t stand the possibility that he could be dead! Do you know what it’s like to feel that everything is gone!?” Natalie explained, and then yelled.

We all stood silent for a moment.

“Well I’m sure somebody here-” David said.

“No, none of you do!” Natalie cried out, “None of you could have these feelings I do!”

“Well in my video my-” Thomas said.

“No one cares about your boat Thomas.” Cole said.

“Okay- Wait how-” Thomas responded.

“S-so you did it f-for your brother,” Christopher said, “B-but, why did you kill-?”

“I knew Monokuma would tell me if I graduated, and..” Natalie said.

* * *

“You’re late.” I said.

“It doesn’t- You’re not Madison.” Penelope said.

“No duh.” I responded, “So are you here to talk or to complain?”  
“Yeah, I’ll go with talk.” Penelope said, before leaning on the table.

“You looked stressed, why is that?” I asked.

“Well, it’s just the motive, it’s gotten me all stressed out, and, do you think I’m a bad leader?” She said.

“I think you’re the type of leader we need, in this situation.” I answered.

“Yeah that! Everyone I’ve talked to said I’m a good leader, but I feel like I’m not. I don’t think I’m helping as much as I could.” She explained, “I.. want to help everyone.”

“You certainly seem to be ‘helping’ someone in particular.” I said.

“What does that mean?” She asked.

“You know.” I said.

“I don’t-” She paused, “That!? No no! That was nothing!”

“‘Something’ doesn’t look like nothing.” I said.

“S-shut up!” She responded.

“Sure, keep it down like that.” I paused, “So how could you help everyone?”

“Well, I was thinking we all could talk about the motive.” She answered.

I stopped right where I was.

“What?”

“Well, everyone was distraught over it, so if we all talked about it, we all might become better friends! I mean, the motives can’t be that bad!” She explained.

“Y-yeah, sure.” I said, grabbing the hammer.

“So, I’ll start with you, what was in your motive?” She asked me.

“My brother.” I said, walking over to her.

“Oh, He must mean a lot if he’s in you video, but, it’s not that much, not enough to murder.” She said.

“What?” I said angrily.

“Not enough to murder, he couldn’t be that impo-” She said.

She had broken my reluctance.

“I’ll show you what’s not important!” Is what I said, before I swung it at her.

“Wha-” Was the last thing she said.

The hammer’s claws hit her swiftly, I pulled it back to hit again, but she had fallen over. I tossed the hammer on the table, and I did the deed.

* * *

That was.. Something.

“So that’s why you did it.” Mary said.

“But it far from excuses you.” Warrick said.

“What does that mean?” Natalie asked him.

“You shouldn’t have murdered her. Simple as that.” Warrick responded.

“Yeah, you still shouldn’t have done it, no matter what you thought was at stake.” David said.

“But why Penelope?” I asked.

“Why should I tell you?” Natalie asked me.

“What?” I said.

“You’re the idiot that got me caught! Why should I tell you anything!?” She said angrily, “I did it because I had to know what happened to him! Nothing more, Nothing less! And I won’t leave this god-forsaken school until I do-!”

“Well that won’t be happening!”

“What does that mean!?” Natalie responded.

“Because I have to wrap this all up!” Monokuma said.

“And that would mean?” Mary asked.

“The punishment!” Monokuma said enthusiastically.

“W-what?” Natalie said fearfully.

“He means the part where you die.” Cole said.

“I-I can’t die yet! I haven’t got my damn answers!” Natalie yelled.

“Answers? They’re meaningless when you’re about to die!” Monokuma said.

“Please! Just-” Natalie pleaded.

“Now, time for the moment you’ve all been waiting for!” Monokuma announced,

 

“It’s punishment time!”

* * *

The bear hit a gavel on a button..

_GAME OVER._

_NATALIE HAS BEEN FOUND GUILTY._

_TIME FOR THE PUNISHMENT!_

We were all facing Natalie, when suddenly, a claw flew from a new doorway, clamped around her neck, and pulled her backwards. A giant screen above the bear turned on, and we all turned to look at it.

Natalie was on a boat in a green military uniform, surrounded by Monomukas in the same attire.

_Operation Execution: E-Day_

_Ultimate ROTC Cadet,_

_Natalie Madison’s Execution: Executed_

The boat had hit land, and the Monokumas began to push out, Natalie with them. It was a beach, bullets flying, and the occasional explosion. An obvious emulation of the D-Day landings. She ran forward, gun in hand, as the Monokumas were gunned down, grunting every time a bullet hit her. She kept running, absorbing the fire, almost to a safe cover. He tripped, and at that moment, a grenade had been thrown and landed next to her. She looked at it and-

 

Natalie Madison was dead.

* * *

Everyone was in shock, even Mary and Warrick, but not Cole.

“W-what?” Was the first thing I said.

“Sh-she’s dead..” Madison said.

“D-dead…” Christopher said, before collapsing.

“Looks like lil’ mister paranoid can’t handle an execution!” Monokuma said.

“Oh will you shut up!?” David yelled.

“Nope! Can’t shut me up!” Monokuma taunted.

“Let’s see about that!” David said, before rushing at the bear. He would have attacked it, if it weren’t for Katrina tackling him.

“Get off me!” David yelled.

“No! You’re gonna get yourself killed!” Katrina responded.

“Stop fighting you idiots!” Lucy yelled.

They stopped in their tracks.

“Penelope and Natalie died because of their idiocy! And I don’t want to have another one of you die because of it!” Lucy yelled, breaking from her previously shy demeanor.

David and Katrina then got up.

“Geez! Party-pooper!” Monokuma said.

“Go Away.” Warrick said.

“Fine! Try not to get yourselves killed! Oh wait, Do the opposite! Kehahaha!” The bear said, before disappearing.

“We should go now, we need some rest for tomorrow..” Thomas said.

“I’ll take Christopher to his room!” Madison said.

“Wait.” Warrick said, “Everyone, take this as a warning, if you become the blackened, you will die and be executed.”

“Yeah, don’t do it, blah blah!” Paul said.

Warrick looked angered for a second, but put it down.

“I’ll be leaving now.” Warrick said, before walking away.

We all followed suit, boarding the elevator, and then I was in my room.

‘Today was horrible.’ I thought, ‘That’s an understatement and you know it.’

I lied in bed, before a thought passed my mind, ‘How did Cole know what Natalie’s and Thomas’ motives were?’

Then, I drifted to sleep.

* * *

Cole was in the library.

“Last one..” He said to himself.

He had 16 disc cases in his arms. He then left the library, and when he was in the commons..

“Well look who’s taking my motive!” Monokuma said.

“Oh, it’s you. What do you want?” Cole asked.

“Well, I saw you taking my motive and wondered, Why!?” Monokuma yelled.

“There’s a common thread in these, and it leads to you, Mastermind.” Cole responded, before walking towards the dorms.

“Thread?” The bear pondered, “Don’t kid yourself! You already have it, don’t you?”

Cole stopped.

“Found it?” He questioned, “When you put it that way..” He paused, “I’ve already broken the mystery.”

* * *

Students Remaining: 14


	13. Chapter 2: The Stage Act of Despair Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A new day begins.

*Ding Dong, Bing Bong* 

“This is your Morning Announcement! It is now 8 AM, rooms that were locked off at night will be opened. Let’s have a happy day in the killing game!”

I woke up to the announcement as normal, and I did my daily morning routine. I tried my hardest to forget yesterday. I didn’t want to remember yesterday.

I sighed as I walked out of my room, and towards the cafeteria.

“Hey guys.” I said, before going to sit.

“Hey!” David greeted.

Everyone was here, again, exception Vincent.

“It seems we’re all here.” Warrick said, “Does anyone have anything to bring up?”

“Well I-” Thomas said.

“I saw Vincent earlier!” Katrina said.

“What was he doing?” Warrick asked.

“He was probably complaining about how-” David mumbled.

“He was walking upstairs!” Katrina said.

“Up-what?” Elizabeth said confused.

“Upstairs! I think it opened up last night.” Katrina explained.

“Looks like we have a new floor to explore then.” Cole said, “I’ll be on my way then.”

Cole then walked out of the room.

“Hey! Wait for-” Madison called out.

“You could stand to wait a minute.” Thomas said, grabbing her arm.

“Fine.” Madison said, pulling back.

“Why do you insist that we stay here?” Warrick asked Thomas, “You’re only-”

“I have something to say.” Thomas said, “It’s about yesterday.”

“Yesterday?” I said, “Can we just forget yesterday?”

“No.” Warrick said bluntly.

“So what is it that you want to ask?” Elizabeth asked, “We don’t have all day.”

“You could stand to be more patient.” Katrina said.

“Oh shut it brawn for br-” Elizabeth said.

“Did any of you notice something Cole knew yesterday?” Thomas asked.

“Amnesia doesn’t know much, he knows less than we do.” Jeane said.

“Not that!” Thomas yelled, “Remember when Natalie was going crazy, and Cole shut her up? And right after the trial?”

* * *

“T-that proves nothing!” Natalie responded.

“Oh just give it up already.” Cole said, for some reason. 

“What do you want? You-” Natalie said. 

“You’ve been outed as the killer, your reactions, don’t help your case. Talking about your brother certainly doesn’t help.” Cole said 

“W-what..?” Was Natalie’s response, “How do you-?”

* * *

“Well in my video my-” Thomas said.

“No one cares about your boat Thomas.” Cole said. 

“Okay- Wait how-” Thomas responded.

* * *

“Remembering it, he seemed to know you two’s motives.” Mary said.

“That, oddly makes sense?” Paul said, “Why would he know that?”

“Something else to say, this morning, after I woke up, I checked the library, and the motive videos were gone.” Thomas said.

“G-gone!?” Christopher asked, “W-why would-!?”

“I can explain that!”

The bear made his appearance.

“Gah!” Christopher yelled.

“Are you going to do this every time someone asks a question like that?” Lucy asked.

“Yup!” The bear responded.

“Great.” Lucy said.

“So, are you going to tell us what happened to the videos?” Thomas asked.

“Why are you asking?” Elizabeth asked, “He probably took them!”

“On the contrary! I have nooo idea where they are!” Monokuma said.

“What? How could you lose track of your own videos!?” Paul said, “It’s very simple-”

“No one wants to hear your life story Paul.” Lucy said.

“Doesn’t matter! I have no idea where they are, so, toodles!” It said, before disappearing.

“I swear..” David mumbled.

“Regardless, I think it’d be wise to explore the Second Floor now.” Warrick said.

“Yeah, sure, whatever.” Thomas said.

“Let’s go Katrina.” Lucy said.

“You asked me this time!” Katrina responded, “Yes! Let’s go!” 

Then the 2 of them walked off, followed by most everybody else, me included. We all pretty much went towards the stairs, which did in fact, open up. And when I walked up, It had an entirely new atmosphere. The open area in which we arrived was basically a smaller common area. 

I walked over to what looked to be the first room. It looked to be a freezer, upon opening its door, a wave of cold washed upon me. It appeared to be empty, so there wasn’t much to look for, so I closed it.

“Aaaahhh!!” A scream? signaled.

What? It appeared to be from a double-doored room. I raced towards it, I was concerned, and it was close, good.

I opened the doors and.. It was a stage room.

“I can’t believe it! This is great!” Jeane squealed.

“How so?” Paul asked.

“It’s a stage room! I’m a stage actress! What more could I ask for!?” Jeane responded.

“Backup actors?” I asked.

“Yes that!” Jeane responded, “I gotta go!” She then raced off.

“Okay then.” Paul said, observing the room.

Looking around, there were 3 rows of 6 seats, a stage, and a backroom. It was also obvious that Jeane was planning something with this room. I walked out and turned right, soon after, I encountered a “Data Room”, entering it I saw Cole.

“Hey Cole. What are you doing..?” I asked.

He was fidgeting with a data machine on the wall.

“I’m trying to see what this does..” Cole responded.

“Okay..” I decided not to question it.

Looking around the room, there was a desk right next to the door, and a shelf containing various bottles. Looking closer, they were all empty. I grabbed one, and pulled it out, but apparently I hadn’t had a good grip, and it fell and broke.

“Gah!” I reacted.

“Watch out!” Cole said, “Gah! Just leave!”

I complied, leaving the room, he seemed quite angry over a simple bottle. Regardless, I continued down the hall, eventually turning right, and I saw three doors, all for more classrooms, also passing David and Christopher.

At the end of the hall, turning right again, there was a crossing section, I continued straight to the end of the hall. There were two doors, I chose the room on the left first, an “Archery Room”.

“Good shot!” Katrina said.

I looked over, Lucy has shot a bow, and it had landed near the center of a target. Vincent was here, and he was smiling, a new thing for him.

The room was divided into 2 parts, the supply area, had aiming booths, a door to the other half, and a shelf with a variety of ranged weapons, and a sign saying: “Only the Student with a Certain Talent may take one weapon out at a time.”, wonder what that means. The other half  just had a variety of targets for aiming.

“Oh, hey Garrett!” Katrina greeted, “Did you see that?”

“Didn’t see it happen, but that’s impressive.” I said.

“She’s good, but far from what I can do.” Vincent said.

“Ooh! You could teach her!” Katrina suggested.

“No can do, don’t trust any of you. But I can recognise skill.” Vincent responded, disappointing Katrina.

Lucy then began to shoot again.

“So, I should get going.” I said, “Have the rest of the floor to explore.”

“No wait!” Katrina called out.

“What?” I asked.

“I bet Lucy would love to talk about- Wait, nevermind!” Katrina said.

I was confused, “J- What!?”

“I just remembered something, you can go!” Katrina said.

“Okay then..” I said, walking out of the room.

I heard someone say “Is he g-” right after I left, but I digress. I proceeded to the next room, which appeared to be a game room. There was a variety of arcade games around the room.

“You aren’t beating me again!” Madison yelled out.

“I can’t help that you’re bad at this.” Mary said in a joyful tone.

“Hey guys-” I greeted.

“Shut it!” Madison yelled at me, “No distractions!”

“What?” I asked.

“We’re playing Battle Tetris, she’s lost multiple times, but keeps insisting that she can win.” Mary said smiling.

“And I will-!” Madison said, before pausing suddenly.

“That’s Five to Null now.” Mary said happily.

“Ugh!” Madison groaned, kicking the machine.

“No damaging the merchandise!” The bear said from an intercom.

“Whatever!” Madison yelled at the intercom.

“You’re getting awfully steamed.” Mary said, “Why not go for a swim?”

A swim? There’s a pool?

“Because I hate swimming!” Madison replied.

“Suit yourself, I have books calling my name!” Mary said, presumably leaving for the library.

“You look.. Sad?” I said.

“I guess!” She said, throwing her hands up.

“Is there anything wrong?” I asked.

“Well.. Yeah..” She responded.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“Well, I’ve not been very useful at all! and even worse, I was almost framed as the culprit, and got everyone killed!” She vented.

“O-okay, first, most of the people here haven’t been overtly useful. And secondly, it’s nowhere near your fault that you were framed, Natalie more or less, accidentally chose you.” I said.

“You.. Have a good argument, but!” She paused, “I will find a way to be useful!”

“How so?” I asked.

“I’ll, help during the next investigation! Well, if there is one!” She exclaimed.

“That’s the spirit!-” I said.

“Now I’m full of energy! Gotta run!” She said, running out of the room.

I was left there silent, and then decided to finish my exploration of the second floor, and left the room.


	14. Chapter 2: The Stage Act of Despair Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The day continues.

I had left the room and turned left, before ending up at the halway I had passed earlier. There were three doors, on the left, there were two. They were changing rooms, boys left, girls right. On the other side was the door to the pool, and upon entering, it was a fairly standard pool room. A pool in the center of the room, a diving board, and a variety of seats strewn across the room. There was also a door at the left end, labeled “Storage”.

I turned to leave, and exited out into the hall. I assumed I had explored the entire floor, or at least what we were allowed to. So I guess I had freetime.. Well all time was freetime, except the investigation and trial I guess.

I decided to head downstairs, and began to walk to the stairs, turning left into the hall again. I ended up by the stairs, about to head down before-

“Watch out!”

“Wha-!?” I yelled out in surprise, not being able to move away in time.

Then, Madison had crashed into me, knocking me over, while she continued a bit more, before stopping and turning back.

“Woah! Are you okay!?” Madison asked.

I contemplated saying something sarcastic back, but, “No, not really.” Is what I said instead. I then brought a hand to my head, it hurting.

“Lemme help, I know what to do!” Madison insisted.

“Sure..” I responded.

“Great!” She said, grabbing my arm, and almost dragging me downstairs.

“I-is this even safe!?” I questioned.

“I dunno, but nobody tends to get hurt when I do it!” She responded.

I sighed and let her continue, and soon enough, we were in the infirmary. She was looking through a fridge by the looks, and I was sitting on one of the beds.

“Here you go!” She said, tossing me an Ice Pack.

“Thanks.” I said, pressing it against my head.

She then walked over and sat next to me, confusing me a little.

“Madison? Why are you-?” I asked.

“Oh sorry! I’m just more comfortable around people when I’m not exercising, especially in this situation.” She explained.

“Oh,” I said, “So, why’d you ever get into football?”

“Oh that! Well, I was always interested in sports, being the only girl does that to you.” She said.

“And how many brothers do you have?” I asked.

“Five, definitely five!” She said, “But yeah, I was never really into being a ‘girly-girl’ like some people at school.”

“What do you mean by that?” I asked.

“You know, like.. “Becky’, and ‘Samantha’,” She said.

“I still don’t get it.” I said.

“Ugh, I mean like those stupid popular girls! They always do whatever they want, always hurting people, and dating those-!” She ranted.

“Woah, calm down there.” I said, “They’re nothing compared to you guys, you all want to help people, unlike them, and well, some of us.”

“You’re right there with the ‘most of us’. With Natalie doing that, and Vincent being unhelpful, and who knows with Cole.” She said.

“Yeah, It’s good to have these calm moments, before everything goes downhill.” I said.

“Yeah! We have to be prepared for whatever Monokuma throws at us!” She said, enthused, “Just thinking about it makes me-”

“Energetic?” I said.

“Yeah!” She responded, “Gotta run!”

She then bolted out of the room, for the second time today.

I sighed, and got up. There was daylight yet.

* * *

After a while, I ended up in the cafeteria. I got hungry so I made myself a chicken sandwich. When I walked out of the kitchen, I noticed that Thomas was working on his project.

“Hey Thomas!” I called out.

“Hey!” He replied, “How are ya?”

“Good.” I said, walking over.

“That’s good! What brings you here today?” He said.

“Nothing much, just hungry.” I said, sitting at his table, “So, what is it that you’re working on?”

“Oh this?” He said, gesturing to it, “Nothing much, just a replica of my ship.”

“‘Nothing much’!?” I said baffled, “You’re building it in a bottle!”

“So? I do this all the time.” He replied nonchalantly.

“Okay. So, let me get this straight, you build replicas of boats in bottles, all the time?” I asked.

“Well yes, mostly in my freetime.” He explained.

“And when is that?” I asked, “Normally I mean, not here.”

“Normally, I build them when I’m at port whenever I’m waiting for a new, ‘Mission’, to say the least.” He explained.

“Wait, Mission?” I said.

“Yeah, it’s mainly delivering packages and animals, and occasionally more important stock.” He explained.

“That’s cool.” I said.

“Yup, and it’s never boring to me. Sailing across the world and seeing new places and such.” He said.

*Ding Dong, Bing Bong*

“Ahem, It is now 10 PM, Nighttime will soon be taking effect, and certain rooms will be locked off for the night momentarially. Have a happy night in the killing game!”

“Ah, well then, see you tomorrow.” He said getting up.

“Yeah, see you tomorrow.” I said, doing the same.

I soon ended up in the hall, walking towards the dorms, when I heard footsteps coming from the hall.

“Jeane..?” I said.

She was carrying a small stack of papers, she was also running.

“Why are you running?” I asked as she ran.

“I’m excited-!” She replied, before she tripped and fell, dropping her papers, “Augh! No!”

“You okay?” I asked.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m okay.” She said, getting up, “But my papers!”

She then got down and began to collect them.

“What’s so important about them?” I asked.

“You’ll see..” She said, collecting the papers.

“Okay..” I said, “I’ll see you tomorrow then.”

“Yeah okay..” She mumbled.

I then began to walk to my room, and soon enough entered it.

I did my nightly routine, and got ready to sleep, laying on my bed.

I thought of the things that had happened over the last few days. Would there be any more deaths? I could hope not. It took the bear’s motive to break Natalie. I mean, what could the bear have in store?


	15. Chapter 2: The Stage Act of Despair Part 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A new day begins, and a new problem.

*Ding Dong, Bing Bong* 

“This is your Morning Announcement! It is now 8 AM, rooms that were locked off at night will be opened. Let’s have a happy day in the killing game!”

I got up and got ready for the day, it was the one thing that never changed. After getting ready, I headed out for the cafeteria. 

* * *

Upon arrival, most everyone was there, Vincent was absent as always, Cole was too, not that unusual. But, Jeane was gone too, and she had never been before, but I was probably worrying too much.

I sat down at random, Warrick and Elizabeth were sitting at the same table, discussing something.

“Hey, h-how are you?” Lucy asked me, to my surprise.

“Uh, fine I guess.” I said.

“That’s good..” She mumbled.

To be frank, I was confused.

“Okay..” I said.

Looking around, most everyone was talking with someone, Mary was writing something down, but I digress.

“Okay, enough with the waiting. Does anyone know where Jeane is?” Warrick asked, standing up, “I’d prefer to start today’s discussion with her.”

“And not with Vincent?” Madison asked.

“He’s never here anyways.” Paul commented.

“Yeah, but s-!” Madison said.

“Jeane was carrying papers last night.” I said, “It probably has to do with that.”

“Papers? What could that be for?” Katrina pondered.

“Probably for some stupid play.” Lucy commented.

“Regardless, we’ll get to the meeting without her.” Warrick said, “Now, did anyone see Monokuma yesterday? Barring the announcements and his video tyrade.”

The room turned silent.

“Why does it matter?” Cole asked, “I mean, why would he be meddling with the school, he already monitors us all day and basically set the school up for this.”

“Because, by this time before the last trial, he had given us our motive.” Warrick said.

“You mean in the afternoon, not the morning.” Mary said.

“Yeah sure.” Warrick said, “Now, did anyone find anything out of the ordinary yesterday?”

“You mean besides the talking bear?” Cole taunted.

“Yes obviously!”

“Well, in the Archery Room, it says something about guns and a talent.” Lucy said.

“Yeah! I wonder what it means?” Katrina said.

“Whatever it means, we’ll find out soon enough.” Warrick said.

“T-that’s ominous..” Christopher said.

“Yeah, and I’m popular!” Paul said.

“But you aren’t.” Lucy said.

“What’s-!” Paul said.

“Oh shut up you two!” Elizabeth yelled.

Then the doors slammed open.

“Guys! I have the best idea!” Jeane said, basically yelling.

Everyone stopped what they were doing, and looked to where Jeane was.

“What?”

“You kinda just barged in while they were arguing.” David said.

“We were not!” Elizabeth said.

“Whatever you say Liza.” Paul said.

“Well, still, I have the best idea!” Jeane exclaimed.

“Yeah, and I’m an actor.” David said.

“Well, some comedians are act-” Mary explained.

“It was a joke Mary. A joke.” David said.

“I think we should perform a play!” Jeane said.

“Called it.” Lucy commented.

“So, is anyone interested?” Jeane asked.

“May I ask why you’ve come to this?” Warrick asked.

“Well, everyone had kinda been on edge recently, and I wanted to cheer everyone up!” Jeane said.

“Didn’t expect this out of you Jeane.” David said.

“Why is that?” Jeane asked.

“Well, you do have a bias against.. someone here.” David said.

“Me, he means me.” Lucy said.

“Well that’s because-” Jeane said.

*Ding Dong, Bing Bong* 

“Oh, what is it now!?” Jeane yelled.

“Ahem, Prospect’s Academy has an announcement! All students must assemble at the gym! Assuming they aren’t dead!”

“Great.” Thomas said.

“This isn’t going to end well..” I said.

“I-it’s probably a m-motive again.” Christopher said.

“Well, we’ll just have to be prepared for whatever it is.” Warrick said, leaving.

Then we all proceeded to leave the cafeteria and head for the gym.

* * *

We had all arrived, and were standing in various parts of the gym.

“Nice of you to join us Vincent.” Warrick said.

“Because I’m stupid enough to disobey direct orders.” Vincent replied.

“I wonder why he brought us here.” Katrina pondered.

“A-again, I think i-it’s the motive..” Christopher said.

“Well at least it can’t use the same motive again!” I said.

“Yeah, again..” Paul said.

“Whatever it is, can he hurry up? I have things to do.” Vincent said.

“What do you do anyways?” Jeane asked.

“You have no right to know.” Vincent replied.

“Well then!” The bear said, it finally appearing, “It seems you are all here!”

“Thanks Captain Obvious..” Lucy mumbled.

“Why are we here anyways?” Paul asked the bear.

“Why? Well I’ve decided to dish out the motive today!” Monokuma answered.

“Already?” Cole asked.

“Well, this motive will be more long-term, to say the least.” It said.

“So we shouldn’t expect a dead body tonight?” Elizabeth asked.

“Ask your fellow students that! I can’t determine everything!” It responded.

“Could you give us our motives already?” Warrick asked.

“Fine! In the box below, you will find a bracelet, and you will attach it to your left arm.” It said.

We all obliged, walking to the box and getting the bracelets. They were half black, and half white, like the bear. They also had a plastic screen for some reason.

“This is your motive? This is laughable!” David taunted.

“Wait a moment David, he hasn’t revealed it yet.” Mary said calmly.

“I haven’t!” The bear commented.

“Just do it already.” Cole said.

“That’d be prefered.” Thomas said.

“Okay, those bracelets contain a deadly poison, which will inject itself into you, should you break your randomized code.” The bear explained.

“And what exactly is this code?” Mary asked.

“Momentarially the bracelets should display them. Be sure to remember them! We wouldn’t want anyone to die pointlessly, would we?” Monokuma explained.

And, as if on cue, beeping sounds were sound out by the bracelets, I looked to check mine, which read: “Looking into a mirror”. This was problematic, but I guess it was tame.

“What!?” Lucy yelled out, “These are totally personalized!”

“Nope! You just happened to get it! Not so lucky now, are you?” The bear taunted.

“Ugh.” Lucy grunted.

“It can’t be that bad!” Katrina said.

“This one isn’t, by far.” Paul said, “Give me a challenge next time!”

“Easy peasy!” David said, “Hey Christopher, what’d you get?”

“G-got to go!” Christopher said, running out of the gym.

“Wimp.” Cole said.

“Hey, that’s not-” I said.

“‘Nice’? Heh, act like that, and you’ll get yourself killed Webster.” Cole responded.

“Hey!” David call out, “That was-”

“‘Uncalled for’? Oh save me the platitudes for when you’re about to die.” Cole said insultingly.

Cole was acting.. Different. Very different from yesterday and before.

“And you.” Cole said, looking towards me, “You’re the one.” He said before leaving.

“He- That-” I said, very confused.

“Okay. So, would anyone like to join me in my play?” Jeane said, changing the subject.

“Eh, wouldn’t hurt.” David said.

“Yeah! Okay, Madison, Paul, Garrett, you’re acting too!” Jeane said.

“Wha- Acting? I dunno..” Madison said.

“Just do it, you aren’t going to change her mind.” Vincent said.

“I can totally do this!” Paul said, enthused.

“Um- Okay?” I said.

“And, Elizabeth! You can help us with outfits-!” Jeane said.

“Haha… No, I don’t want to- uh- work on your dumb play!” Elizabeth said.

“Odd..” Mary mumbled.

“Well, I’m sure they’re in the stage room anyways!” Jeane said, bouncing back.

“Just for reference, when should we expect this to be done?” Warrick asked.

“Well, hmm…” Jeane thought, “I suppose in a day or two. I’m not planning anything extravagant.”

“Okay, everyone, we’ll all be attending it, no exceptions.” Warrick stated.

“Why?” Katrina asked.

“Because it’ll help us get over some of the things going on.” Warrick said.

“Fine by me.” Lucy said.

“But I thought you didn’t like p-” Katrina said.

“Not here.” Lucy said.

“Why?- Oh.” Katrina said, realizing something.

“Let’s go.” Lucy said, the both of them walking off.

“Okay, everyone working on the play, let’s go!” Jeane said, walking off.

The ones of us she had chosen just followed her. No idea why she chose me, but I decided to just go with it.


	16. Chapter 2: The Stage Act of Despair Part 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The day continues, and the play's preparation begins.

Soon enough we had arrived in the stage room, Jeane had run off into a back room, and we were all waiting around the entrance.

“So, what play do you think she’s making us do?” David asked.

“Probably some stupid musical.” Paul scoffed.

“What’s wrong with musicals?” Madison asked.

“Just don’t like them is all.” Paul said.

“No taste..” David mumbled.

“Guys!” Jeane called, running back, “Got the papers!”

“Papers?” I questioned.

“Well, they’re more like scripts, but still.” Jeane said.

“Scripts for what?” Madison asked.

“The play, obviously.” Paul said.

“Yup!” Jeane said.

“So, uh, what Are we going to be doing?” David asked.

“I was thinking we could do Romeo and Juliet!” Jeane said.

“Wait, all of it? All two hours!?” I asked.

“Well, not All of it, just some of the important bits.” Jeane explained.

“Could you be more specific?” Paul asked.

“Hmm, I was thinking the Prologue, Balcony scene, and most of the ending parts.” Jeane said.

“So, what roles will we be taking then?” David asked.

“Out of the main ones, I was thinking David could take most of the Montague characters, Paul for the Capulets, Madison for Juliet, and Garrett for Romeo.” Jeane said.

What?

_ I _ was getting Romeo. Melodramatic, impulsive Romeo. Bizzare.

“Uh, isn’t it weird for 4 people to be performing a play?” I asked.

“Yeah, and why isn’t the Ultimate Actress, y’know, acting?” David said.

“One, it’s Ultimate Stage Actress, and two, I’m directing it.” Jeane said.

“Still-!” David argued.

“Hey! You’re getting manly night characters, while I’m getting girly-girl Juliet, so shut it!” Madison yelled.

“Okay! Geez..” David said.

“Okay! So let’s get acting!” Jeane said, enthused.

And then, we began to practice our act. We began with the prologue, simple enough. Jeane spoke out the opening paragraph, Paul and David acted out the opening fight, and Madison played the Prince.

We then moved to the balcony scene, Madison standing on a ladder for it. Madison, being Madison, dragged through it, but Paul and Jeane got onto her about it, and she went along with it, however reluctant. Also, Jeane told us that we were going to do the first half today, and the rest tomorrow.

And, at some point..

“Okay!” Jeane called out, “I think we’re done for today!”

“Thank god..” Madison mumbled, climbing down.

“Isn’t it, y’know, a bit early to stop?” David asked.

“Well I wouldn’t want to take all of your free time, and we aren’t doing that much, so yeah.” Jeane explained.

“Fine by me.” Paul said, “See ya.”

Then we all proceeded to leave, except for Jeane, she said she had to do a few more things.

“Uh, hey.” I said.

“We should talk.” David said.

“Okay?” I responded.

* * *

David had dragged the both of us to the game room. Lucy and Katrina were also here, they were playing for a prize. 

David brought me over to the counter to talk.

“So uh, why’d you want to talk?” I asked.

“It’s just-, I’m suspicious of Jeane.” He said.

“Why? Is it because you’re rivals or something?” I asked.

“No, it’s not that. I just think.. She might be plotting a murder.” He said.

“Hey, that’s a pretty damning presumption.” I said.

“But think about it!” He said, “She’s not acting, she’s being open about it, and she’s alone in there! It’s undoubtedly suspicious!”

“And why is it so out of the ordinary to you?” I asked.

“Because it’s never like this when it comes to TV!” He said.

“Well, it’s not.” I said, and he seemed a little puzzled, “It’s a play, a completely different thing from yours.”   
“Did you forget I did stand-up?” He responded.

“Well, no-” I said.

“Just, don’t see it as perfectly innocent. I may be positive, but I’m not that trusting.” He said, walking away.

I decided to head downstairs, and head to the library, I didn’t have much else to do.

* * *

I arrived at the library, to an.. Interesting sight.

“This is a very unsafe thing to do Cole.” Mary said.

“I know.” Cole said.

Cole was standing on a stack of books, on top of a chair, on a table. Needless to say, I had no idea what he was doing.

“Uh.. Okay.” I said.

“It’s you.” Cole said sternly.

“Yes..?” I said, confused.

“Meh.” He said, sitting down on the books.

“Uh, may I ask why he’s doing this?” I asked.

“No idea, he just walked in here and started doing that.” Mary responded.

“At least I wasn’t doing nothing!” Cole called out.

“You were doing nothing?” I questioned, “I thought you always read books when you’re in here.”

“I- Does it matter? He doing.. That!” Mary hastily said.

“You have a point, I guess.” I said, “So, Cole, why are you doing that?”

“Because I could.” Cole said, “Actually, I have better things to do.”

Then he got off the pile.

“And you’re just going to leave it like that?” Mary asked him.

“Nope!” Cole said, before pushing it over, “Distraction!”

The he ran out of the room, leaving us silent.

“I- What?” I stuttered.

“I think he’s going insane.” Mary commented.

“Is there anyway you could check? I’m sure there’s a book-” I suggested.

“Oh could you shut it with the books!?” She said angrily.

“W-, Okay, but why are you so on-edge about them?” I asked.

“Sorry, I usually calm myself with books when I’m peeved, and this is the root of that.” She said, bringing up her bracelet, which read: “Reading a Book”.

“Oh, well, that explains a lot.” I said.

“This is very detrimental to my daily schedule. And what do you have, probably something simple..” She ranted.

“Well, not sure what you say is simple, but..” I said, raising my arm.

“That’s inconvenient.” She said.

“Yeah, but at least neither of us got anything too crazy, right?” I said.

“I guess you make a point there. Who knows what everyone else got.” She said.

*Ding Dong, Bing Bong* 

“Ahem,” It was the bear, “It is now 10 PM, Nighttime will soon be taking effect, and certain rooms will be locked off for the night momentarially. Have a happy night in the killing game!”

“Ugh, well, we should get going then.” She complained.

“Yeah, we should.” I said, before we promptly left for the dorms.

I arrived at my room soon enough, and got ready for bed. And I began to think before I slept.

Why was Cole acting all weird lately? Was he remembering something, or was it something else? Those thoughts filled my mind as I began to sleep.

* * *

“Then it’s this button.. And done!” I said to myself.

I had no idea why I was doing this, it had just come to me, like many other things.

“So you finally did it. About time!” The bear spewed.

“What do you want?” I asked.

“Well, you finally finished your hidden task! So I came to you with an offer.” It said.

“And what would that be?” I asked.

“Well, I give you all you require, and you sow discontent among your, so-called, ‘friends’.” It bargained.

“And why are you offering me this?” I said,.

“You could have an easier time remembering everything, unlike your classmates.” It said, “Not mentioning a higher chance to survive the game.”

“So we all have missing memories?” I asked.

“Some more than others!” It responded.

I paused to think.

“So, you dig?” It said.


	17. Chapter 2: The Stage Act of Despair Part 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The next day begins.

*Ding Dong, Bing Bong* 

“This is your Morning Announcement! It is now 8 AM, rooms that were locked off at night will be opened. Let’s have a happy day in the killing game!”

I got up, prepared for another day of preparation for the play, and whatever the bear threw at us. Not being able to look at a mirror was a minor annoyance, but it an easy task to do.

* * *

In the cafeteria was everybody, sans Vincent, Cole, and Christopher. Everybody else working on the play were sitting at the same table, so I decided to sit with them.

“So how are you guys?” I asked, sitting down.

“As good as every other day here.” Paul said.

“Well, I’m ready for another day of acting!” Jeane said enthused.

“Us acting, you mean us acting.” Paul said.

“Whatever! It’s still a joy for me, to see people acting!” Jeane said.

“Whatever you say.” Paul said.

“Acting? Wonder why you aren’t, any reasons why Jeane?” David asked Jeane.

“I- I have my reasons!” Jeane spouted, “I’ll tell you later..”

“Suure.” David said sarcastically.

“I just want to get this over with..” Madison complained.

“Come on! It’s a little fun, isn’t it?” I encouraged.

“Only because you guys are nice to work with..” Madison admitted.

“There you go!” I said.

There was a pause, then Warrick opened the morning discussion.

“Okay, first things first, has anyone seen Christopher?” Warrick asked.

All of us were silent.

“Has nobody seen him since yesterday?” Warrick asked.

“I tried to talk to him, but he wouldn’t come out of his room.” Thomas said.

“Why were you going to go talk with him?” Elizabeth asked.

“What’s so wrong with going to talk with a friend?” Thomas asked.

“Maybe it’s because she only talks with Warrick, who she’s obviously not interested in-” Lucy mocked sarcastically.

“Oh, shut up!” Elizabeth spewed.

“Could we get back on track?” Warrick said, frustrated.

“That would be wise.” Mary said, “So, could you two please stop.. Arguing?”

The both of them more or less nodded to that suggestion.

“Moving on, has anyone noticed any.. Suspicious activity?” Warrick asked.

I expected David to say something, but he remained silent.

“No?” Warrick said after a moment, “Well then, feel free to go enjoy your free time, and remember everybody, the play is tomorrow.”

Then most everyone began to leave the cafeteria.

“Okay guys!” Jeane said, standing up, “Let’s get ready for another day of acting!”

The rest of us just obliged.

When we arrived at the stage room, we began to act the rest that we were going to do. We started with the fight scene, and all of us got an assigned role, barr Jeane. Paul would ‘kill’ David, and I’d ‘kill’ Paul, and then we’d move onto more of the Capulet scenes.

* * *

And, soon enough, we finally arrived to the last two scenes.

“So, uh.. What happens here?” Paul asked Jeane, who was sitting in the audience.

“Romeo talks with Balthasar, who leaves, then you, Paris, fight Romeo and die. Then Romeo finds Juliet, kills himself, and Juliet awakens, and kills herself. Then we have some minor reading after it- I’m improvising a bit here.” Jeane explained.

“Got it, but why does he kill me again?” Paul asked.

“It’s just how the story was written, and you ended up being the Capulets.” Jeane said.

“Why did they kill themselves though?” Madison asked.

“Because they’re stupid, young idiots. That’s really it.” Jeane said.

“But I’m younger than Romeo.” I said, and we appeared to be angering Jeane.

“It’s just how the story was written, okay!?” Jeane lashed out, “And you should know it’s old, you know about a lot of old things!”

“Okay, geez..” I said.

Soon enough, we had finished.

“...and that’s a wrap!” Jeane announced, “You guys are terrific! We’ll be perfect tomorrow!”

“Is that genuine, or are you buttering us up? Not saying either is bad..” Paul said.

“I’m just glad we’re almost done.” Madison said, “I hate playing this girl.”

“I am anticipating what we’ll see tomorrow. I’m sure it’ll be grand.” David said sarcastically.

“Okay, will you stop that!?” Jeane said, walking towards David, “You’ve been eyeing me this entire time, what gives!?”

“You haven’t realized!? It’s obvious that something-” David said.

The other three of us didn’t exactly want to be apart of that, so we just left.

* * *

“Are we just going to leave them there?” I asked, “It’s not exactly-”

“I’ll make sure they won’t kill each other, don’t worry.” Paul said, “So, go do whatever it is you do.”

“Finally!” Madison said, relieved, “Bye!”

Then she ran off towards the rest of the floor.

“Are we sure they’ll be okay?” I asked.

“They aren’t dumb, they won’t go that far, now shoo.” Paul said.

“Okay..” I said, walking off.

I didn’t really have much to do, so I decided to go to the game room, I could at least play a game there, should no one be there.

* * *

Also in the game room were Lucy and Katrina, same as yesterday. Madison was playing that ‘Battle Tetris’ she was with Mary the other day, well, just normal tetris.

“Hey Madison.” I greeted, “What’re you up to?”

“Trying to get better at this game, so I can beat Mary!” Madison said.

“Cool.” I said, she probably needed the concentration to focus, so I moved along.

I passed by Lucy and Katrina, who were playing one of those 2D beat em’ up games. 

I eventually found a weird game called “Prospect’s Mystery”. I was intrigued, and decided to play it.

It was created by a ‘R. Corley’, never heard that before. But, what was more concerning, that a ‘C. Nelson’ worked on it as well, which undoubtedly meant Cole. But, he was a Substitute, not a Programer, then again, he did have amnesia.

I started it, and it had 3 option, Class 12, 13, 14. I could only select Class 13, I guess the bear did that. I selected my class and then it opened with a prologue. “The Tragedy has been raging on for over a year, and it’s suspected that one of the Academy’s students may be an Ultimate Despair. You will play a student who is attempting to unearth the mystery.”

‘Tragedy’?, ‘Ultimate Despair’? What are these things? Continuing to play seemed to be a prefered option, I’d certainly get some answers-

_ * Bloop * _

The game shut off.

“What?”

“That’s enough of that for now!” The bear announced.

“W-why’d you do that!?” I questioned.

“Can’t have you solving all the mysteries right now, can I?” It answered, “Besides, that alone should stir thoughts in your head!”

“So, I’ll be able to play it again, but later?” I guessed.

“Yup! But you’ll have to figure that out on your own!” It teased, “See ya!”

Then it disappeared. All that had happened was that more questions were opened, and I guess they’d be answered later.

“Today’s just going to be filled with mystery, isn’t it?” I mumbled.


	18. Chapter 2: The Stage Act of Despair Part 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The day continues.

After standing in silence for a moment, I decided to leave the game room and go do something else, I couldn’t really do anything else in here, and I didn’t want to disturb anyone in here.

When walking past the stage room, Paul wasn’t there, so I just assumed they stopped fighting, or something like that.

I then moved downstairs, and turned for the dorms, I figured I could think for a while-

“Oof!” I grunted out, “Oh, sorry Vincent!”

“...Whatever.” He responded.

“Are you not angry? At all?” I asked.

“No, what you did was a minor inconvenience, besides, what idiot gets angry over an accident?” He said, then a pause followed.

“Why.. Are you so cold towards people?” I asked.

“Have I not made it clear? I’m less likely to die here if I interact with you all to the bare minimum. And, speaking of..” He said, before promptly walking away.

“Hey!” I called out.

“If you have to say anything, say it now.” He mumbled, stopping for a moment.

“You don’t have to be so cold, and if you want to start.. Warming up, there’s plenty of us to talk to.” I said.

He paused a moment, “Whatever.” and then he walked off.

I sighed, and then I began to walk to my room.

* * *

I suppose I had been just lying and thinking for a while. The Tragedy? Ultimate Despair? What could those be? Did they have any relation to our situation? That machine only brought more questions than answers. I could ask Cole about his name being on it, but I had no idea where he was.

_*Knock knock*_

What? I put my glasses on, and got up to see who it was. I opened the door and.. Warrick?

“Warrick? Why are you here?” I asked.

“To talk.” He said.

“Okay..?” I said, slightly confused, “About what?”

“Things.” He said.

_Very descriptive_ Warrick.

“Fine?” I responded.

He came in and sat at the table. I promptly did the same, waiting for what he had to say.

“So what’s this about?” I asked.

“It’s about Jeane and the play.” He said, which confused me.

“Uh.. What about it?” I asked.

“It’s happening tomorrow, no?” He asked.

“Yeah, to my knowledge it is.” I answered.

“So we’re still on track, good.” He said, “Now, more seriously, someone tipped me off, that Jeane may be planning a murder.”

Oh. And by someone, he means David, doesn’t he?

“Well, it may seem like that, but I’m sure there aren’t any ill intentions-” I said.

“You guys are doing Romeo and Juliet. A tragedy, with multiple deaths, and her motive is to ‘Cheer everyone up’. Those don’t exactly line up.” He said.

“Well, I still don’t think-” I said.

“We are in a Killing Game, Webster. And you are being far too trusting.” He said, and it certainly struck me, then he sighed, “Everyone will be there tomorrow. If someone dies during the play, and Jeane did it, I’m counting you in the blame.”

Then he left.

I sat a bit in silence, and then the nightly announcement played.

*Ding Dong, Bing Bong*

“Ahem, It is now 10 PM, Nighttime will soon be taking effect, and certain rooms will be locked off for the night momentarially. Have a happy night in the killing game!”

I sighed before I got ready to sleep, and soon enough, everything faded to black.

* * *

I woke to knocking. And it certainly wasn’t the morning.  I sat myself up and put my glasses on, before walking over to the door.

I opened the door and found.. A note. I picked it up, and it read: “Library”. I decided to go to the library, but I was going to be more cautious, it being night and all. I grabbed my suit top, and began to walk for the library.

* * *

Upon arriving, the library was the same as usual, but looking around, one of the computers was on. I walked over to it, and it had a video open. I debated whether I should watch it or not, but I decided to just do it. I sat down, put headphones on, and played the video.

The screen turned from black and Cole appeared, and he was in some storage room.

“Is it on? Good. Okay, I haven’t much time, but if you’re seeing this, they must’ve got me and everyone else.. Now, they’re planning to repeat Her game, and do it with my class.. They couldn’t have done this before, but after they killed Class 12, god.. Just thinking about those.. Images.” Cole paused, “But okay, I’ve left enough clues around the school, for when-”

The video shut off.

Okay, what did this mean, Class 12 is dead? And another Killing Game? Clues? Did that refer to that arcade game? I’m just glad that Monokuma didn’t interrupt me.

“That’s enough for now Garrett.”

It wasn’t Monokuma. I got up to turn around and-

_*Thwack!*_


	19. Chapter 2: The Stage Act of Despair Part 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The day of the Play begins.

*Ding Dong, Bing Bong*

“This is your Morning Announcement! It is now 8 AM, rooms that were locked off at night will be opened. Let’s have a Happy day in the killing game!”

What?

I woke in my bed. 

I sat up, extremely confused at what had happened. I watched a video with Cole in it, and then someone knocked me out. I had to talk about this with someone, so I got ready for the day and headed out.

* * *

As I headed towards the cafeteria, I noticed Thomas and Vincent talking.

“Could you just let me go now?” Vincent asked him.

“I’m not holding onto you, I’m just curious.” Thomas said.

“Psh, whatever you say.” Vincent said, walking off.

I walked closer, “What was that about?” I asked.

“Oh nothing.” Thomas replied, “He was just out of his room earlier than usual, that’s all.”

“You have tabs on that?” I asked.

“It’s just something I’ve noticed. Regardless, we should get inside now.” Thomas said.

“Yeah.” I said.

Upon entering I sat with everyone working on the play, only Madison, David, and Paul were there though.

“Hey.” I greeted.

“Hey! How are ya?” David greeted.

“Good, I guess, I’m just more confused than anything.” I said.

“Confused? About what?” David asked.

“Well, I shouldn’t mention-” I said.

“Better question, where’s Jeane?” Paul asked.

“Oh yeah, did you guys make up, or something?” I asked.

“Oh-! I guess you could say that!” David said.

He seemed much more calm about her than he did yesterday.

“Where is she anyways?” Madison asked.

“I- That’s a good question..” David said.

“Okay.” Warrick said, walking over, “It seems someone doesn’t want to show up, so while we try to get him out of his room, you all can go and get ready for the play.”

“Got it, come on guys, let’s go.” David said, standing up.

The rest of us obliged and followed.

* * *

“So, how do you think we’ll do?” David asked.

“I think we’ll do good enough.” I said.

“I just want this over with!” Madison said, “I hate princesses.”

“That’s ripe territory for a joke.” David said.

“Speaking of, why do you never make any jokes David?” Paul asked.

“I- Does it really matter?” David asked, “Besides, we’re here.”

He was right, we had arrived at the stage room.

“Uh.. It looks pitch-black in there.” Madison said.

We looked at the door windows, and it was indeed pitch-black.

“Pshh, Jeane’s probably just trying to scare us.” David reassured, “We’re fine.”

“I hope so..” I said.

“We don’t have all day, what could a little darkness do?” Paul said.

“Maybe the bracelet-” I suggested.

“It was a rhetorical question, Garrett.” Paul said.

“Let’s just go in already!” Madison said, pushing the doors open.

The rest of us just followed.

“It really is dark in here!” Paul said in amazement.

“I didn’t realize.” Madison said annoyedly.

The door shut behind us, and at that moment, two spotlights flashed on, spotting onto the stage. That alone, revealed nothing but stage curtains. What was below the light, however, was much like the play we were about to prepare for.

A Tragedy.

 

Jeane Brown, The Ultimate Stage Actress, in preparation for a play, now lie hunched up against the stage, stab wounds all over her upper body.

“W-what?” Is the first thing I said.

“She’s dead t- that’s-!” Paul stuttered.

“W-why...” Madison said.

David, on the other hand, collapsed onto his knees, with an expression, one full of despair.

*Ding Dong, Dong Ding*

“A body has been discovered! Now, after a certain amount of time has passed, a Class Trial will be held! Please assemble in the Stage Room! Attendance is not mandatory!”

We all stood in silence, before a wave of footsteps rushed into the room. The room lights also turned on then.

“What in the-!” Warrick said, barging in.

“J-Jeane’s dead!?” Katrina said in shock.

“T-this is truly unfortunate..” Mary commented.

Everyone, sans Cole and Christopher, were here, even Vincent, but he wasn’t hit by it at all, more so.. Irritated?

“Tch, at least we can’t suspect her for killing herself.” Vincent said.

“W-why would you say that!? Someone just died-!” i said.

“Right you are!” Monokuma said, “And one of you killed her!”

“You seem more upbeat than usual.” Mary said, having recomposed herself.

“Well someone just got killed! And I can’t wait for all the surprises cases bring!” It said, “And all of the Despair!”

“S-shut up!” David said.

“Huh?” The bear said, faking confusing.

“T-this is your fault!” David yelled, rushing toward the bear.

“David stop-!” I yelled, before being interrupted by.. Vincent?

Vincent rushed forward, catching David before he could do anything.

“This is pointless, stop that before you kill yourself, got it?” Vincent said aggressively.

“Sure, whatever!” David said, pulling himself from Vincent’s hands.

“And here I thought I’d get to punish someone..” The bear moaned.

“Can you get to the point now?” Warrick asked.

“Yeah, yeah, Fine, fine. The Monokuma File! It’ll tell you the deets of the case.” The bear said, “See ya soon!” It said before disappearing.

“I will never get over that..” I mumbled.

“Okay, everyone! Put your heart into it, we’re having another trial, so we better get ready for it.” Warrick said, “Come on Liz, we have work to do.”

“Y-yeah..” Elizabeth said, grimacing at the body.

The two of them left for the dressing room in the back.

“Hey Katrina.” Lucy said.

“Yeah?” Katrina responded.

“There’s.. Something I want to check, let’s get going.” Lucy said.

“Okay!” Katrina said.

The two of them left the room, and following that, everyone spaced out, some staying, some leaving.

The investigation had begun.

“Hey Garrett.” Vincent said, walking over to me.

“Uh, yeah..?” I said.

“I’m investigating with you, okay? No questions why.” He said.

“Okay? I don’t really mind..” I said.

“Good.” He said.

“Now, first, the File.” I said, opening the Monokuma File on my student handbook.

“Jeane Brown. Her body was discovered in the Stage Room. Her body was discovered at approximately 7:25 AM. The victim experienced immediate death due to a puncture in her neck, she also has many stab wounds in her chest and neck.”

“No time of death?” I said.

“Must be important to finding the killer, it wasn’t exactly useful last time round’.” Vincent suggested.

“Y-yeah..” I said, remembering the last case.

We walked up to Jeane’s body.

“I’ll look at it, no worries.” Vincent said.

He examined the body for a moment.

“Yup, matches.” He said.

“Your- Uh, good at this. Wounds I mean.” I.. Complemented?

“It helps when you deal with poachers.” He commented.

“Right..” I said.

“I think we should check the stage now.” Vincent said, “There’s probably something there, with the way those spotlights were set-up.”

Vincent then walked up to the Stage.

“I’d be careful with him.” Thomas said to me, surprising me.

“!- Why?” I asked.

“Didn’t tell you earlier, but, I saw him coming from upstairs before I got onto him. I’m usually up first, and the cafeteria had just opened when I noticed. So take that as you will.” Thomas explained.

“Okay..” I said, walking up to the stage.

Vincent pressed a button, and then the curtains opened, revealing a key item.

“A.. Sword?” I said, walking over to it, “A prop one.”

It was bloody all over, and right above where Jeane lie.

“Blood’s still wet.” Vincent said, “She wasn’t killed that long ago.”

“That helps, a lot actually.” I said.

“Also,” Vincent said, walking over to the stage controls, “There seems to be a timer here, it’s set to something though..”

“Oh yeah! Jeane mentioned that last time, it came in real handy!” I said.

“Huh..” Vincent said.

I looked around the stage, to see if anything was suspicious, and then I noticed four sandbags on the other side of the stage.

“Those weren’t there yesterday..” I said, walking over to them.

“What weren’t?” Vincent asked.

“Those sandbags-” I said.

_ *Click!* _

“Huh?” I said, startled.

“Watch out!” Vincent said, tackling into me.

“Gah!” I grunted.

The both of us landed next to each other, right before the sandbags I had mentioned.

“What was that for!?” I asked him.

“You were going to be crushed by that!-” Vincent said angrily, getting up, before going silent.

I got up as well, a turned to look, and, I see why he went silent, as did everyone else in the room.

*Ding Dong, Dong Ding*

“Man! You guys su-ure know how to give an act! Ahem, a body has been discovered! Now, after a certain amount of time has passed, a Class Trial will be held!”

I was petrified.  _ Two _ bodies!? I couldn’t believe it, I wouldn’t believe it. But, you can’t argue with reality..

“C-Cole!?” I yelled out.


	20. Chapter 2: The Stage Act of Despair Part 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Investigation continues.

Cole was dead.

His blood-soaked dead body lay in a pool of blood upon a tarp, which had fallen from above.

Everyone in the room was in shock, Warrick and Elizabeth had run in from the dressing room, and David, Paul, Katrina, and Lucy had come in from outside.

“So Cole’s dead too?” Warrick said, “This changes a lot.”

“Obviously.” Lucy said.

“But two dead bodies, who would do that? It’s not exactly necessary.” Mary said.

“I mean, you’re not wrong, but two of our friends just died, and-” I said.

“Does it matter?” Paul said, “Jeane and the amnesiac are dead, and we’ll all be if we don’t figure out who did it.”

“Speaking of, Monokuma!” Warrick called out.

“You called?” The bear said, appearing.

“I think you know what we need.” Warrick said.

“Yeah, yeah, The Monokuma File!” The bear said, “Already got it updated for ya!”

“Good.” Warrick said.

“So get back to it! You don’t have all day!” The bear said before disappearing.

“Psh, sure.” Warrick scoffed, “Come on Liz.”

Then everyone went back to investigating.

But, who would kill two people? I.. We’re all going to figure this out, and bring them to justice!

“Are you in space, or no?” Vincent asked.

“Oh- Sorry!” I apologized, “We should look at the file, shouldn’t we?”  
“Yeah, we should.” Vincent said coldly.

I opened my handbook, and looked at the updated file, which read: “Cole Nelson. His body was discovered on the stage in the Stage Room. His body was discovered at approximately 8:04 AM. The victim has minor lacerations along the right side of his head, and many stab wounds on his chest, which resulted in his death. There are also traces of poison in his bloodstream.”

“Poison?” I said.

“That’s something.” Vincent said.

“Um, do you think you could, check the body?” I asked.

“It’s just a body, no need to act so grossed-out.” Vincent said, before analyzing Cole’s body.

After a little while, “Matches up.” Vincent said.

“Okay, still reliable.” I said.

“Also of note, he didn’t have any of his belongings on him. His bracelet also seems off, at least compared to mine.” Vincent said.

“Okay, that might be useful later.” I said, “Also, where’d someone get a tarp?”

“Dunno, I never explored this floor. But it assuredly wasn’t from the Storage Room.” Vincent said.

“Okay, well, I think we’ve got everything here.” I said.

“Whatever you say.” Vincent said.

The both of us then proceeded outside. David was right outside the stage room.

“David?” I said.

“Don’t talk to me!” Is what he yelled back.

Vincent said to not bother him, so i did, and we walked on. Soon enough, we ended up at the Archery Room.

“What could be here?” I asked.

“Not sure, but it might be best we look around.” Vincent said.

We looked around for a bit, I found nothing.

“Why’d you bring me here again?” I asked.

“Just had a hunch.” Vincent said.

“Okay..” I said.

“Look.” Vincent said.

“What?” I asked.

“A gun’s missing.” Vincent said.

I looked where he was pointing, and he was right. A hunting rifle was gone.

“That’s important.” I said.

“Duh.” Vincent replied.

“That’s probably it here.” I said.

“Perhaps. Let’s get going, we don’t have that much time to investigate.” Vincent said.

The two of us then proceed to the pool. Lucy and Katrina were also there.

“Hey, what’re you two doing?” I asked.

“Investigating, obviously.” Lucy said.

“Yeah!” Katrina said, “We found this!”

“What?” I said, walking over.

“Look!” Katrina said, pointing to the pool supplies room.

“What.. Is it?” I asked.

“The supplies are off.” Lucy said, “A tarp’s missing.”

I looked at the supplies list, and then at the tarps, and one was indeed gone.

“That’s interesting.” I said.

“No duh! Especially since we saw Paul here last night!” Katrina said.

“What?” Vincent said, “Paul?”

“That’s what she said.” Lucy said.

“We were leaving the game room, and we saw Paul going into the boy’s changing room.” Katrina said.

“Did he look like we was doing something?” Vincent asked.

“He looked like he was changing from a swim, the pool does lock off at night!” Katrina said.

“This helps, thanks guys!” I said.

“No problem!” Katrina said.

Then we went back out into the hall, and started heading for the stage room.

“I’m not sure this is enough for the trial..” I said, concerned.

“There’s always enough.” Vincent said.

“Okay..” I said, before- “Woah!”

“You okay?” Vincent asked, having grabbed me from falling.

“Uh.. Yeah?” I said, “I just tripped over this wire.”

“This wasn’t here  yesterday.” Vincent said.

“Really? I never noticed..” I said.

It was coming from the Data Room. Vincent pushed the door open, but..

“It won’t budge.” Vincent said, “Help.”

“Okay..” I said.

Then we both began pushing on it, and eventually, it pushed it.

“Woah!” I said in surprise.

Both us us fell, and were witness to a bloody scene.

“Somebody didn’t want us to see this.” Vincent said, getting up.

The room was bloody and wires were everywhere.

“So, something certainly happened here.” I said, “What’s this?”

I picked up a broken bottle, blood lined it.

“That may be a weapon we’ve been looking for.” Vincent said.

“Yeah, this room and all too. This must be really important.” I said.

“Doesn’t look like anyone else has seen it either, we’ll have to bring this up-” Vincent said.

*Ding Dong, Bing Bong*

“Well then, your time is up! Everyone, please report to the elevator, and we’ll be ready for the class trial! This is sure to be an exciting one!” Monokuma announced.

“Ugh. We better get going.” Vincent said, “Come on.”

“Yeah..” I said.

Then we proceeded downstairs towards the elevator. 

* * *

 Everyone was there, Christopher included.

“I’m just askin why you haven’t left your room!” Paul said.

“I-it’s none of your business!” Christopher said.

“I hope I contribute this time, I didn’t really help last time..” Madison said.

“There’s a first for everything.” Vincent said, “You’ll do fine.”

“Yeah, but you better help this time too!” Elizabeth said to Vincent.

“I did my research this time, don’t sweat it.” Vincent said.

“‘Research’..” Thomas mumbled.

Soon enough..

“You’re all here? Great!” The bear said, “Now, all aboard!”

The elevator opened, and one by one, we all got on. And soon, we began to descend.

“Hey.” Vincent said.

“Yeah?” I responded.

“Trust your reasoning and stay vigilant. This case isn’t very clear-cut from the start.” Vincent said.

“Okay..” I said, “But, what with you today? You’re warmer, you didn’t seem to want to yesterday.”

“I.. Have my reasons.” Vincent said.

Then we stopped talking.

* * *

 “Welcome, welcome, welcome! You’ve been here once before, stand at your stand and we can begin!” The bear said.

“I-I’m not sure if I want it t-to..” Christopher said.

“The sooner we begin, the sooner we solve this.” Warrick said.

“You said it..” Madison said.

“Hopefully we’ll get through this too..” I said.

Two of us were killed, Jeane and Cole, ands someone here did it. They killed them both. We can’t forgive this, whoever did it. We’ll find them out, expose their crime, and.. Maybe, the game will end. All we could do is Hope, Hope for the best outcome.

An outcome where we all survive. 

* * *

_Truth Bullets:_

  * Monokuma File 2 (Jeane): "Jeane Brown. Her body was discovered in the Stage Room. Her body was discovered at approximately 7:25 AM. The victim experienced immediate death due to a puncture in her neck, she also has many stab wounds in her chest and neck."
  * Monokuma File 2 (Cole): "Cole Nelson. His body was discovered on the stage in the Stage Room. His body was discovered at approximately 8:04 AM. The victim has minor lacerations along the right side of his head, and many stab wounds on his chest, which resulted in his death. There are also traces of poison in his bloodstream."
  * Prop Sword: There’s a bloody prop sword on the stage, likely used to cut Jeane’s chest and neck.
  * Thomas’ Account: Thomas says he saw Vincent in front of the Cafeteria earlier than usual, and that he came from upstairs.
  * Stage Timer: There’s a timer in the stage switches, but we can’t see what it’s been set to.
  * Dropped Sandbags: There are 4 sandbags on the ground that are supposed to be above the stage.
  * Tarp: There’s a tarp under Cole’s body.
  * Cole’s Belongings: Cole appears to have none of his personal belongings on him.
  * Missing Gun: There’s a missing gun in the Archery room.
  * Pool Supplies Log: There appears to be a tarp missing from the Pool Supplies.
  * Katrina’s Account: Katrina says that Lucy and her were leaving the Game Room for the night when they saw Paul enter the Boy’s Changing room.
  * Data Room Status: The room is a mess, with blood all over the place and wires spilt on the ground.
  * Broken Bottle: There’s a broken bottle with blood on it in the data room.
  * Bracelet Motive: The motive may have had an effect on the killer, and may have motivated their kill.




	21. Chapter 2: The Stage Act of Despair Part 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Trial Begins.

_ Class Trial Start. _

“Now then, let’s begin with a basic explanation of the class trial! You all will debate and discuss who you think the blackened is, and when you’ve all come to a conclusion, you’ll vote on who you think the culprit is! If you get it right, I’ll only punish the blackened, and the rest of you will continue the killing game! But if you get it wrong, I’ll punish everyone besides the blackened!” The bear explained, “Now then, let’s get to the trial!”

“So, where do we begin?” Madison asked.

“Well, I think finding out  _ How  _ and  _ When _ they died.” Thomas said.

“W-what does t-that mean?“ Christopher asked.

“The Monokuma Files, it doesn’t say when they died, and it’s still important to find out what was used to kill them.” Thomas explained, “From there, we could narrow down our list of suspects.”

“That seems logical.” Mary said.

“Well I’m already sure of who could have done it!” Elizabeth yelled.

“What do you mean by that?” Paul asked.

“She’s probably wrong..” Lucy snarked.

“It had to be one of you working on the Play!” Elizabeth yelled.

“What!?” Paul said in shock.

“They were both killed in the Stage Room, so one of you had to do it!” Elizabeth yelled.

_ “No that’s wrong!”  _

_ Break! _

“What’s wrong with her argument, Garrett?” Warrick asked me.

“Well, Vincent and I, found something in the Data Room.” I said.

“The room had blood spattered all around it, and there were wires that initially prevented us from entering the room.” Vincent explained.

“So anyone could have done it then.” Mary said.

“No duh.” Lucy said.

“I would disagree.” Warrick objected, “While someone may have been murdered there, you four are still more suspicious than others.”

“I mean, you’re not wrong.” I said.

“Let’s move onto something more important.” Paul suggested.

“And that would be..?” Warrick asked.

“The, uh.. Way the bodies were found!” Paul said.

“That’s a fine suggestion.” Mary said.

“And it could help us!” Katrina said.

“So, refresh us, how did you four find Katrina? “Warrick asked us.

“Well, we were walking to the Stage Room, and we saw that it was pitch black.” Madison said.

“And when we entered, spotlights turned on, and then we saw Jeane’s body, hunched up against the stage.” Paul said.

“S-so, whoever k-killed Jeane, w-wanted everyone to s-see it..” Christopher stuttered.

“Everyone would’ve either way.” Lucy said.

“So, they wanted to make a show out of it?” Katrina pondered.

“Well, the lights were aimed at the stage,” I said, “So maybe not..?”

“But they certainly made one for Cole’s.” Thomas said.

“That can be assumed, since they made his body drop from above onto the stage.” Mary said.

“Gah! This is too confusing!” Katrina complained.

“What if.. The culprit only planned to kill one person?” I suggested.

“That would simplify a lot of details.” Mary said.

“But who did they plan to kill?” Thomas said.

“I think I got it!” Katrina exclaimed.

“How so?” Warrick asked.

“Well, Cole’s body was originally hidden above the stage, right?” Katrina asked.

“We’ve established that, yes, it was.” Vincent said.

“What if, the culprit meant to hide his body from us?” Katrina suggested.

“That’s quite convoluted.” Mary commented.

“That way, we’d never see the body!” Katrina concluded.

_ “No that’s wrong!”  _

_ Break! _

“H-huh!?” Katrina stumbled,” How’s that wrong!?”

“Well, Vincent and I found the timer among the stage’s switches, and it was set to something, right Vincent?” I said.

“Yeah, that. It was set to something, but I couldn’t see what. There was a click from it though, and after that, Cole’s body fell and almost hit Garrett.” Vincent explained.

“I guess I was wrong then..” Katrina said.

“It wasn’t that hard to debunk anyways!” Elizabeth said.

Katrina was visibly angered by this.

“But where does that leave us?” Paul asked, “We still know squat!”

“Jeane.” Warrick said, “How did Jeane die?”

“It’s kinda obvious, it says so in the Monokuma File.” Paul said.

“And what does it say?” Warrick asked.

“She died from a puncture in her neck.” Mary said.

“T-that’s v-vague..” Christopher said.

“It’s obviously because of the sword on the stage, there isn’t anything else it could be.” Thomas said.

“Maybe it was set as a decoy?” Madison suggested.

“That.. Has to be it.” I said.

“What?” Madison said, “I was right!?”

“Well, the Monokuma File would have said she was killed by the sword if she was, but it’s very unspecific on what killed her.” I explained.

“So what could have been used to kill Jeane?” Paul asked, “Because, if it’s not that, we don’t have anything otherwise!”

“That’s not necessarily correct.” Mary said, “Perhaps there’s evidence we’ve yet to find.”

Wait.. Small Puncture,  _ What can make a small puncture, that can also be easily hidden? _

“I think I got it.” I said, “It’s the missing gun.”

“Missing gun?” Paul said.

“Yeah, Vincent and I found that a gun was missing from the Archery Room.” I said.

“It was a hunting rifle.” Vincent said.

“But doesn’t it say something about one student being able to take a gun out?” Madison asked.

“It does.” Lucy said, “But it’s by talent.”

“And what talent relates to guns?” Warrick asked.

“They might not be alive-” Vincent said.

“Liz and I  _ found _ the gun in the changing room. They’re still alive.” Warrick said, “Again, what talent relates to guns?”

“There’s really only one option.” Lucy said.

He couldn’t have-

“I-..”

What?

“I’m sorry..”


	22. Chapter 2: The Stage Act of Despair Part 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Trial Continues.

“What?” I said, more or less in shock, like most of the people in the room.

Vincent looked broken, the cold shield before having been torn down.

“Did he just admit-” Lucy asked.

“He just admitted to killing Jeane!” David yelled, filled with anger.

Then David attempted to run towards Vincent.

“Hey! No leaving your podium!” The bear yelled.

“Or what!?” David yelled.

“You’ll end up in the same place your Jeane is!” The bear threatened, “Now get back to the trial!”

“So Vincent killed Jeane.” Warrick said, “That tidies that up.”

“So Vincent’s the Blackened?” Katrina asked.

“I would assume so, it’s easy to imagine him killing someone.” Paul said.

“Imagination shouldn’t be influential in a courtroom.” Mary said.

“Whatever Mary.” Paul said.

“D-does that mean w-we’re done now?” Christopher asked.

“He did admit to it” Thomas said.

“G-guys! Don’t you think you’re being to hasty about this!?” I said, “We haven’t even solved everything!”

“We  _ have  _ only solved Jeane’s death.” Lucy said.

“I don’t care about that!” David yelled, “He killed Jeane, so he must be the blackened-!”

“I’m not actually.” Vincent said, having recomposed himself somewhat.

“Huh?” David said.

“First you killed someone, and now you’re not the culprit?” Elizabeth said, “Big whoop!”

“If you’d allow me to relay my point,” Vincent said, “It, happened this morning.”

* * *

“Rise and shine!” The bear yelled.

“Gah!” I yelled in surprise, “What do you want?”

“Well, I was wondering, how do you feel about your Code?” Monokuma asked me.

“It’s dumb.” I said.

“Well aren’t you in a negative mood!” It said.

“You woke me up, before the morning announcement.” I said, “Why?”

“I’ll just get straight to the point.” It said, “It may or may not be broken today, should you not take the necessary procedures!”

“T-that’s forcing me to-!” I argued.

“I know! Isn’t that just despairing!?” The bear gleamed.

“Why’d _ I _ get this one!?” I asked.

“Because, either nobody cares, about the cold stone dying. Or everyone cares, about a  _ star  _ dying.” It said, “I’ll leave the choice to you.”

Then it disappeared.

* * *

“So, you did it because of your code?” I asked.

“Yes.” Vincent answered.

“If I may ask, what  _ is  _ your code?” Mary asked.

“It won’t change-” David said.

“Shut up David!” Madison yelled, “He’s trying to help us!”   
“Help us?” David said, “He killed Jeane, he’s only prolonging his-”

“Not killing someone before the next trial.” Vincent said, reading off his bracelet.

“What?” David said.

“That’s it, you heard it.” Vincent said, “T-that’s why I killed her...”

“So that’s your motivation.” Thomas said, “A selfish desire to survive.”

“T-that’s not why!” Vincent defended, “I heard she was planning a murder, I thought I could prevent another death, but you see where that’s landed me!”

Vincent appeared to be tearing up a bit.

“So that’s your motive?” Warrick asked, “I can’t entirely fault you there.”

“Why are you siding with him!?” David asked.

“I’m not. I’m just saying that I also thought she was planning a murder.” Warrick said.

“But, Vincent, what did you mean by ‘not the culprit’?” Lucy asked.

“What I’m saying is.. Is that I’m not the blackened in this trial.” Vincent.

“You really expect us to believe that?” Elizabeth asked.

“As hard as it is to believe, it is true..” Vincent said.

“I don’t buy it!” Elizabeth yelled.

“I-I’d have to a-agree, i-it’d be too c-convenient otherwise..” Christopher said.

“We’ve only discovered the truth of Jeane’s death!” I said, “You’re being to hasty about this!”

“I agree, we haven’t solved Cole’s death, we’re far from done here.” Lucy said.

“Yeah! We did this last time, and it wasn’t as simple then!” Katrina said.

“You mean last trial?” Paul asked, “We had to debate then, I doubt we have to now-”

_ “Doubt?” _

“What do you mean doubt?” The bear asked, “You seem pretty,  _ split _ , if I had to say so.”

“We’re doing that again, aren’t we?” Mary asked.

“Yupperino!” The bear said with glee, “Please select the option on your podium’s screen!”

‘Is Vincent the Culprit?’ Appeared, with ‘He Isn’t’ and ‘He Is’ being options. I selected ‘He Isn’t’. And, soon enough..

“Now, Prospect’s Academy presents, the debate chamber!” It said hitting a button.

Again, the trial’s floor opened up, with our podiums moving around. On ‘He Isn’t’ was myself, Katrina, Lucy, Madison, Mary, and Vincent. On ‘He Is’ was Thomas, Christopher, David, Elizabeth, Paul, and Warrick.

“Now, let the debate begin!” Monokuma announced.

“H-he killed Jeane, s-so he must’ve k-killed  **C-Cole** too!” Christopher argued.

“That may not be true, we haven’t solved Cole’s death yet.” Mary retorted.

“Still, we don’t have any bigger  **Suspects** .” Paul pointed out.

“We didn’t think so last time, but we still found someone!” Madison insisted.

“That doesn’t change the fact that he killed Jeane, he has to be the  **Blackened** !” David pushed.

“Again, I’m not the blackened, Monokuma told me so!” Vincent restated.

“Monokuma was  **Vague** at best, in what he told you. You could still be the blackened.” Warrick argued.

“If he was the blackened, he definitely would’ve said that Monokuma said he wasn’t!” Lucy argued.

“You’re basing your  **Argument** on integrity, of someone who’s been shunning all of us since this game started.” Thomas finished.

“We can trust him, I’m sure of it! Besides, we still have mysteries in this case to uncover!” I argued.

_ “This is our answer!” _

“So, have we established that I might  _ not  _ be the culprit.” Vincent said.

“We’ve admitted defeat, now can we move on?” Warrick asked.

“Gladly.” Vincent said.

“So where do we move from here?” Katrina asked.

“We figure out Cole’s death, it’s the next step.” Lucy said.

“Great thinking!” Katrina said.

“That’s what everyone's thinking.” Thomas said.

“So, uh, Vincent, where did you kill Jeane?” I asked.

“The stage room,” Vincent answered, “All I did was move her up to the stage, then I used the sword to cut her torso up.”

“And that leaves it to Cole being killed in the Data room!” I concluded, “Meaning that Cole’s murder starts there!-”   
_ “You’re a Laughing Stock!” _

“W-what’s wrong with that?” I asked.

“Everything!” David roared, “First, you’re asking  _ him  _ not to lie, and secondly, there’s no way Cole could’ve been killed there!”

“But he had to have been killed there, Jeane’s body leaves no trail of blood whatsoever, so it has to be Cole!” I retorted.

“That leaves the problem that Cole leaves no blood trail either, there’s no way to prevent that!” David argued.

“That’s wrong! There is a way to prevent it!” I retorted, “The tarp!”

“The tarp? How does that prevent-!?” David yelled.

“If you placed the tarp under Cole’s body, the body wouldn’t leave a trail of blood.” Mary said, “And a tarp was used to hide Cole’s body, so it’s safe to assume that is the case.”

“I-I guess that’s right..” David admitted.

“But then how do we figure out who killed him from that?” Paul asked, “He was killed in there, so how do we find that out?”

“Well, there’s the tarp.” Lucy said.

“And how does that help?” Paul asked.

“There’s a tarp missing from the pool’s supplies closet.” Lucy said.

“Why didn’t you mention this earlier?” Thomas asked.

“I dunno, it wasn’t like we were more concerned with Vincent over there.” Lucy said.

“So the culprit had to have been able to get a tarp before they set up the scene.” Warrick said.

“So, they had to get it at night, right?” Katrina asked.

“Why is that important?” Warrick asked.

“Well, because Lucy and I saw Paul coming from the pool last night.” Katrina revealed.

“What?” Warrick asked.

“I-I didn’t kill anybody, especially him! It’s just coincidence!” Paul defended.

“You know what’s also coincidence?” Mary asked, “The fact that you’ve avoided saying Cole’s name the entire time.”

“What is  _ that  _ supposed to mean?” Paul asked angrily.

“You’ve avoided saying it since the investigation. You’ve used variations of him, or nicknames. Just something I’ve noticed.” Mary explained.

“Again, that’s pure coincidence!” Paul argued, “And so is me going for a swim!”

“I don’t think it is.” I said.

“What makes you say that!?” Paul asked.

“I’m sure there’s a reason you’re doing that, no one should go out of their way to avoid saying someone’s name, it’s impractical!” I argued.

“You have no evidence to back yourself up there!” Paul retorted, “I never liked him, and furthermore, this motive in no way would motivate me to kill him, unlike head-shot over there! There’s nothing you can use to prove that I’m the culprit!”   
_ Your - Bracelet - Poisoning - Code _

_ Break! _

“W-what!?” Paul said, “How does that-!?”

“You must be avoiding it because of your code, that has to be it!” I argued.

“T-that-!” Paul said.

“What is it?” Warrick asked.

“Why should I tell you-!?” Paul asked.

“Because it only delays the inevitable, if you won’t, we’ll force you to.” Warrick said.

“I’m not going to-!” Paul said.

Then Warrick reached over, and grabbed Paul’s left arm, bringing it so he could read the bracelet’s code.

“What are you-!?” Paul asked.

“‘Naming the First Victim’. That’s what it says.” Warrick announced.

“And the only way he could know that, is..” Madison said.

“Is if he killed them.” I answered.

“And we have our culprit.” Lucy said, “Not that much of a shocker though, him being at the pool last night gave it away, well, once we had all the evidence.”

“Now, I think it’s time to end this. This has gone on long enough.” Vincent said, “Garrett.”

“Okay..” I said, “Let’s end this!”

_ Closing Argument _

“The case began last night, when the culprit was getting a tarp, readying themselves for their plan. The culprit dressed themselves in swimwear, because had anyone seen them, they wouldn’t look suspicious. After getting the tarp, they walked out of the pool, stumbling across Lucy and Katrina, who were walking to the dorms from the game room, the nighttime announcement having been played recently. 

Then, the culprit put their plan into action. Tarp in hand, they soon ended up into the Data Room, where they ambushed Cole, stabbing them with a broken bottle, repeatedly, until Cole was dead. It was at this point, somehow, poison got into Cole’s system, whether because of the culprit or not, it still happened. 

Then, the culprit set the tarp on the ground, place Cole on it, and began to drag him to the Stage Room. The culprit set the tarp down on the center of the stage, and carefully let down four sandbags, setting them to the side. Then they tied the four ropes to the four corners of the tarp, and began to bring up the tarp, and Cole’s body. Then, they set the stage’s timer to drop the body at some point, likely during the play, but, because of other events, it wouldn’t. The culprit, finished with their crime, resigned to sleep, awaiting the play in the morning.

Now, that would have been a confusing crime on it’s own, but, someone else decided to commit a murder of their own, making this a much more complex case. This morning, Vincent was awoken by Monokuma, earlier than everyone else, warning him that, someone may have been murdered, and that his bracelet’s code would be activated. Vincent chose to go through with it, and at sometime, got Jeane to go to the stage room, believing that she was planning a murder, again, before the morning announcement.

Vincent then went to the Archery room, to grab a gun, which only he could do. Then, he met Jeane in the stage room, where he shot her in the neck, killing her. He then dragged her over to the stage, and leaned her against the stage. He then grabbed a prop sword, and proceeded to slice her torso up, as to disguise her cause of death, if only a little. Then he went downstairs, his murder complete, and his life safe. But, he was spotted by Thomas, who had awoken by then. This all because of Vincent’s code, forced him to kill a friend. But, because of the same motive, the bracelets, we were lead straight to the killer..

That is the truth you’ve hidden, Paul Jones, The Ultimate Internet Personality!”

_ Break! _

“Anything to say?” Warrick asked.

“Y-you wouldn't-!” Paul said.

“He’s still trying to defend himself.” Mary said.

“Your crime has been outed, I would suggest you stop, this didn’t help Natalie either.” Vincent said.

“You would know about crimes..” David mumbled.

“Would you stop with that-!?” Vincent yelled.

“So! It seems you’re at a conclusion..” Monokuma said, “So it’s time for the long awaited Voting Time!”

Again, like last time, The screen turned on, pictures of us all. I selected the one with Paul on it.

“Who will be chosen as the blackened? Will you make the right choice, or the dreadfully wrong one?”


	23. Chapter 2: The Stage Act of Despair Part 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Post-Trial, and questions are answered.

“You’re exactly right!” Monokuma announced, “The blackened who killed Cole Nelson, is the Internet Sensation, Paul Jones!”

Paul flinched at this.

“Isn’t it ironic? Paul ‘Give me a challenge next time!’ Jones, was done in by the bracelet he called easy! Hahahahahaha!” Monokuma mocked.

“Sh-Shut up!” Paul yelled.

“S-so he r-really did it?” Christopher asked.

“Of course he did. Monokuma confirmed it.” Warrick said.

“But, that still doesn’t answer something,” I said, “Why’d you kill him?”

“I just..” Paul paused, “Had to get out.”

“How does this motive-?” I asked.

“It wasn’t because of _this_ motive.” Lucy said, “I’m betting it’s because of the last one.”

“This one doesn’t exactly inspire a reason to leave.” Katrina said.

“Is that true?” I asked.

“Fine,” Paul said, “It is because of the last one.”

“Well, whaddya see?” Elizabeth asked, “Did ya see a girlfriend? Friends?”

“I.. guess you could say that.” Paul said.

“Then what is it?” Thomas asked, “At least Natalie gave answers.”

“I can answer that!” Monokuma said, “I’ll even show you the video!”

“I thought they went missing.” Mary said.

“You think I’m that dumb, to not have copies?” Monokuma asked, “Nevertheless here it is!”

“Wait! Don’t-!” Paul yelled.

*Click*

A screen fell down, above Monokuma, and the video began.

“Hey bro! Hope you’re havin’ a good time at the Academy!” The first person said.

“Don’t worry about our projects, we can handle em’ without you!” Another said.

“Everything’s fine. Enjoy the academy, make some new friends!” The last said.

This was like mine, were all of them like this?

Then, the screen flickered off, then on again, showing a broken, ravaged, remnant of what was only there moments ago.

“That give you your answers?” Monokuma asked us.

“I mean it gave _some_.” Lucy said.

“So you killed because people close to you may be in danger,” Madison said, “That’s still no excuse to _Murder_ someone!”

“And I’m thinking that’s not it.” Vincent said.

“What do you mean?” Paul asked him.

“I’m not one to know what happens in the.. ‘Industry. But, you’re a selfish person, you wouldn’t kill because of some half-assed friends. No, you’re more concerned about the.. Economics of it.” Vincent explained.

“What does that mean?” Madison asked.

“Simple, he’s more concerned about his Media Empire than ‘friends’.” Vincent said.

“H-how did you-!?” Paul yelled.

“I’ve seen enough people like _you_ during my tours to tell.” Vincent said.

“Y-you!” Paul grunted.

“So he’s selfish, big whoop.” Warrick said, “Better question, which only _you_ know, why did we find poison in Cole, are you responsible for that?”

“I- No.” Paul said.

“Then why is there-?” Warrick asked.

“I’ll just tell you what happened last night.” Paul said.

* * *

I was watching the stage room, I said I’d watch Jeane and David, they were fighting. I saw him enter the data room, Jeane and David looked fine enough, so I decided to check.

And when I entered, I saw him, and Monokuma talking.

“What are you-?” I asked.

“Gah!” Monokuma said, “Uh.. Toodles!”

Then it disappeared.

“Why were you talking to him?” I asked.

“What do you mean?” He asked me.

“Why were you talking to Monokuma, Cole!?” I again asked.

“Simple. I’m his mole now.” Cole said.

“W-what!?” I responded.

“He was just giving me the deets on everyone’s codes.” He said, “And aren’t you awfully observant, to catch me here?”

“Why are you-!?” I asked.

“It’s about my memories, I began to remember.. _Things_ , so I did them, and he offered me, _all_ my memories back. Including what we all did together these last few years.” He explained.

“What does-!?” I asked.

“That mean? I’m sure you’re smart enough to find that out, but I can’t let everyone else find this out.” He said, “I’m sure Monokuma can pass this off as a suic-”

I then grabbed a bottle and smashed it against his head.

“Gah!” He yelled, “Aren’t you-”

_*Ding!*_

His bracelet code activated.

“So that’s what it meant.” He said, “Didn’t think that was it.”

Then I.. Did _it_ , I killed him.

* * *

“That’s quite the tale.” Warrick said, “Our amnesiac became a Mole for Monokuma, but you went up and killed him.”

“Yeah! I lost my advantage against you all!” Monokuma yelled, “Thanks a lot Paul!”

“But he still killed him.” Madison said.

“What?” Paul asked.

“You killed Cole! Even if he did betray us, we could have gotten answers out of him, why he did it!” Madison said, “Now he and Jeane are dead..”

“If you hadn’t killed him, and instead told someone about him, _nobody_ would be dead.” Vincent said.

“No...Body?” Monokuma said, “Nah! I’d’ve gotten a corpse somehow! Speaking of..”

“Of what?” Vincent asked.

“We’re about to make another! It’s time for Paul’s Punishment!” Monokuma announced.

“No, no, no! I still have to answer, right? I have things to say about him!” Paul spewed, “R-right?”

“Meh, you’ve said all that’s needed, someone else has more important info.” Monokuma said.

“Is he..?” I mumbled.

“Nevertheless, it’s time for the moment, we’ve all been waiting for!” Monokuma announced, “It’s Punishment Time!”

“Dammit Cole!” Paul yelled.

* _Ding!_ *

* * *

Monokuma hit a gavel on a button, like last time.

_GAME OVER._

_PAUL HAS BEEN FOUND GUILTY_

_TIME FOR THE PUNISHMENT!_

Paul was shoved into a forest-like environment. It was shrouded in darkness, only lit by a flashlight Paul was carrying in his right hand, but his left, was turning a tint of purple.

_The Despairingly Deadly Forest_

_Ultimate Internet Personality,_

_Paul Jones’ Execution: Executed_

Paul began to rush through the forest, before he stepped on a hidden trap, launching darts at him. He was unable to avoid them, and was hit by all three. His left arm getting worse. He kept running, activated various traps, each sending darts at him, each hitting him. At some point, he arrived at a wooden rope bridge, with ‘Exit’ labeled at the end. He ran across, but tripped halfway through, he tried to get up, and hunched himself along the rope railing, and continued. Then, Monokuma appeared at the end, and began to cut the ropes. Paul saw this, and attempted to tread back, but he couldn’t, the poison had spread to too much of his body. The bridge was then cut-off, and Paul began to fall into the abyss, eventually landing. But, by then, he was dead.

* * *

“Wow-wee!” Monokuma celebrated, “A deadly execution, and a deadly death! Hahaha!”

“I-I’m gonna- No! I-I have to be s-strong..” Christopher said.

“Can mister paranoid handle the execution this time?” Monokuma asked.

“Stop bullying him! You just killed Paul!” I yelled, “Haven’t we had enough!?”

“Fiiine! I’ll lay off him!” Monokuma said, annoyedly.  
“Speaking of, could you take _these_ off us.” Thomas gestured.

“Ugh, fine!” Monokuma said, before pressing a button, which released the bracelets off of us.

“Finally!” Lucy complained.

“But I’m not leaving without..” Monokuma said, pressing another button, “Without revealing them!”

On the screen, which had displayed Natalie and Paul’s deaths, a list appeared.

“Christopher: Fainting outside of your room.

Cole: Revealing your true nature. (Activated)

David: Telling a Joke.

Elizabeth: Sewing of Constructing.

Garrett: Looking into a mirror.

Jeane: Acting.

Katrina: Physically attacking someone.

Lucy: Hitting a Bullseye.

Madison: Carrying someone.

Mary: Reading a book.

Paul: Naming the 1st Victim. (Activated)

Thomas: Building.

Vincent: Not Killing someone before the Next Trial. (Complete)

Warrick: Exploring the Academy.”

“I await your response to my next motive! I think one of you will adore it!” Monokuma anticipated, “Toodles!”

We were left in silence. Well, before someone took action.

“I’m going to kill you!”

David ran at Vincent.

“David, Stop!” I yelled, but I was too late.

David punched Vincent square in the face, knocking him on the ground.

“I-I guess I deserve that..” Vincent said.

“Back up! Fight like a man!” David yelled.

“David!” Madison yelled.

“Why’d you do that!?” I asked, “We don’t need-!”

“Need what!?” David asked, “A murderer to face any kind of justice!? I’m sure the atrocious villains of history would love you!”

Everyone was either in awe, anger, annoyance, or were on the ground.

“I’m not working with you people anymore.” David said, walking off.

Soon enough, only Madison, Vincent, and I were left.

“Hey, Vincent, are you.. Okay?” Madison asked.

“I’m fine.” Vincent said, “David, though…”

“Just, do you need any-?” I asked.

“I’m fine.” Vincent restated.

“Okay, but, we’re friends now, we have your back, okay?” I said.

“You.. Are far too trusting for this game.” Vincent said, and for the first time since I’ve known him, he smiled.

* * *

“So, how are you?”

“I’m fine. I just, can’t believe I used to watch him, ugh.”

“Well we all go through those stages!”

“Yeah..”

“So, have you considered what I said? About.. Him?”

“Yes, I have.”

“So is it a good idea?”

“I guess, but I want to get that prize first.”

“Okay! Whenever you’re ready!”

“Yeah... Night.”

“Night!”

* * *

Students Remaining: 11


	24. Chapter 3: Paranoia's Despair Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A new day begins, and, new mystery.

*Ding Dong, Bing Bong*

“This is your Morning Announcement! It is now 8 AM, rooms that were locked off at night will be opened. Let’s have a happy day in the killing game!”

I got up, and got ready for the day, and set off for the cafeteria-

“Gah!” I yelped in surprise.

“What?” Vincent replied, “Is it hard to believe that I’m here?”

“I mean, I guess.” I said.

“...Whatever, Let’s just go to the cafeteria.” Vincent said.

“But you-” I said.

“Never go? Yeah, I feel like I should, y’know, since we’re friends.” Vincent said.

“W-we are!?” I said in surprise.

“You defended me despite the fact I could’ve been the blackened, and well..” Vincent explained.

“..And what?” I asked.

“I never really done this ‘friend’, thing before.” Vincent said, “Let’s just get to the cafeteria.”

“Okay..”

Then we set off walking.

* * *

Upon arriving at the cafeteria, it was normal, everyone was there, except David, but taking from what he said yesterday, after the trial, I can only guess where he is.

Vincent and I sat together at the same table.

“Hey Garrett! And.. Vincent?” Madison greeted, “Why are..?”

“Does it matter  _ why  _ I’m here?” Vincent asked.

“I mean, I guess not.” Madison said, “Anyways, how are you guys?”   
“I’m fine.” Vincent said.

“Garrett?” Madison said.

“Oh-! Yeah, I’m fine, I guess..” I said.

“Are you still hung-up about yesterday?” Madison asked me, “Don’t bother with it! Paul was a jerk anyways!   
“Well, it’s not about Paul,” I said, “It’s more about Cole.”

“What about him?” Madison asked.

“Why are you talkin’ about Cole?” Elizabeth interrupted.

“W-what about C-Cole?” Christopher said.

“Well, two or so days ago, I saw this video with Cole in it, and with what Paul said-” I said.

“Video?” Warrick said suddenly, standing up.

“Well y-” I said.

“Where is it.” Warrick said.

* * *

“It was right here!” I said.

The computer, which I had watched the video on, was destroyed.

“But now it’s gone.” Lucy said, “Great.”

“That’s unfortunate,” Thomas said, “But at least we know the truth about him, right?”

“I mean, probably.” Madison said.

Instead of talking, Mary walked over to another computer and began to search for something.

“Uh Mary, what are you doing?” I asked.

“Checking something.” She said, “I’m thinking it may be on a database of sorts.”

“Schools have those?” Katrina asked, “I thought it was an office thing.”

“Yeah, but it’s  _ Prospect’s Academy _ , of course they’d have one.” Lucy said.

“Is this it?” Mary said.

I looked at it, it was labeled ‘Message1’

“I mean, it could be.” I said, “I never saw its name.”

“Well we’re about to find out.” Mary said, before starting it.

It again played, it was the same as last time, but..

“But okay, I’ve left enough clues around the school, for when-”

It just, stopped.

“That-!” Thomas said.

“I j-just can’t handle this..” Christopher said.

“So, was that it?” Mary asked.

“A-aren’t you at all shaken by that!?” I asked.

“Well, yes, but I’m not that emotional, remember?” Mary answered.

“Yeah, but, yes that is it..” I said, “But the computer shut off last time!”

“Then is that why he lost his memories? And then became mole for them?” Warrick pondered.

“That would seem so,” Mary said, “But, what’s more concerning is this.” She said, pointing to one of the labels.

“What?” I asked.

“It says, it was uploaded on ‘ **January 18th, 2014** ’.” Mary read out.

That shook everyone.

“2-2014!?” Christopher yelled.

“B-but it’s 2010, right!?” Lucy said, “It said so, not only a few days ago!”

“But Class 12? ‘Her Game’? Clues? What could that mean?” Warrick said.

“I think it means, we all have amnesia.” Mary said.

“How’d you get to that?” Vincent asked.

“Well, remember what Paul said that Cole said.” Mary sid.

* * *

“It’s about my memories, I began to remember.. Things , so I did them, and he offered me, all my memories back.  _ Including what we all did together these last few years _ .” Cole explained.

“What does-!?” Paul asked.

* * *

“It would exactly line-up with the time that computer says.” Mary said, “So, I can say my hypothesis is most likely correct, for the moment.”

“Unless Monokuma tampered with the computers.” Warrick said.

“Well, yes-” Mary said.

“I don’t tamper!” Monokuma said, appearing, “I don’t even know how those computey-things work!”

“So, you didn’t tamper with the computer?” Warrick asked.

“I have never touched those things! Besides, it’s not my fault  _ someone  _ can’t manage a computer database!” Monokuma rambled, “Oops! Said too much!”   
“So, the date is accurate?” Warrick asked.

“I’m not going to tell you! Find out yourself! I’m just saying I’ve never messed with that, or any of those other doo-hickies!” Monokuma said, “Bears don’t lie!”

“What about Smokey!?” Madison asked.

“Being vague isn’t a lie!” Monokuma said.

“So you won’t lie to us?” Warrick asked.

“Well, no.. But I’m not solving any of the mysteries for ya!” Monokuma said.

“Okay, then, riddle me this,” Warrick said, “How many people are in the building?”

“Why would he answer that? It’d expose-” Elizabeth said.

“Oh that’s easy! Since my Killing Game began,  _ only you 16 Students have occupied the building _ .” Monouma said.

“What?” Warrick said.

“Now I’m done answering your Questions!” Monokuma said, “And by the way, another floor is open, so I’m sure you’ll find creative ways to kill each other, Happy Killings!”

Then it disappeared.

“I.. Need to think about this.” Warrick said, before walking off.

“So uh, what do we do now?” Katrina asked.

“We have a new floor to look over, so we should probably do that first.” Lucy said.

“Yeah! Let’s get going then!” Katrina enthused.

“No need to be so loud brawn-for-brains!” Elizabeth yelled.

“Like you’re any better.” Lucy said.

“What does-!?” Elizabeth yelled.

“Let’s get going already.” Lucy said, walking off with Katrina.

“Hmpf! Cowards..” Elizabeth said, before leaving.

Soon enough, most everyone had left.

“So, uh, you wanna go exploring?” Vincent asked me.

“I don’t see why not, besides, we’re friends.” I said.

“Again, you are far too trusting.” Vincent said.


	25. Chapter 3: Paranoia's Despair Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The students explore the newly unlocked floor.

We walked up a newly opened set of stairs, which happened to be right next to the ones going back to the first floor. Upon arriving, and moving left, there was a split pathway of sorts, the hallway continuing south, and a door going right.

Glancing into the doorway, it just lead to another hallway with another door at the end.

“Isn’t that just redundant?” I mumbled.

“Who knows? Depends what’s at the end.” Vincent said.

“Well I guess we could find out what it is later, this floor can’t be  _ that  _ large” I said.

“Whatever then.” Vincent said.

We then moved down the hall, which seemed to mimic the previous two floors, and as we turned right at the end, another three classrooms lined the right side of the hall.

“Isn’t it a bit weird?” Vincent asked.

“What?” I said.

“There’s three of there per floor, don’t classes only have 16 Students?” Vincent asked.

“That’s what be redundant!” I said, “But, you do make a good point.. But I’m sure it’s nothing.”

“I hope so.” Vincent said.

We got to the end of the hall, where turning right, we got to the meat of the floor. A path to the right, bathrooms on the left, and the hall continuing forward. On the right, was a door labeled ‘Lab’, and we checked that out first.

It appeared to be a fairly typical lab, there were variety of tables, and cabinets. There were various chemicals and ingredients on various shelfs lining one of the walls. It was mostly neat, with the exception of the ecstatic Mary.

“Uh.. Hi Mary?” I greeted.

“Hi, hello!” She greeted back.

“What are you-?” I asked.

“I haven’t had the opportunity to actually do chemistry in weeks now!” Mary said, “This is fantastic, I can finally work again!”

“Well, uh.. Don’t over work yourself, I guess.” I said.

“Pff, I won’t!” Mary responded.

“Okay..” I said, before Vincent and I left.

After that, we followed the path to the right, which led to, what seemed to be, a sports court room. There were bleachers lining two of the room’s sides. There were also basketball hoops at either side of the room. There was also a  door, which presumably led to a storage room.

“Another courtroom?” I mumbled.

“Well, the other one isn’t exactly prime for sports, is it?” Vincent said.

“Yeah, but why another-?” I said.

“Does it matter? We can do sports in here!” Madison said enthused.

“Well someone else also seems happy today.” Vincent said.

“I know! Watch me kick this!” Madison said, gesturing over to a football.

“There aren’t any football goals in here t-” I said.

Then she kicked it, where it promptly got stuck in a basketball hoop.

“Again!?” Madison yelled out.

“What do you mean by ‘again’?” Vincent asked.

“This happens all the time with these!” Madison said.

“Maybe because you’re not supposed to use them for football!” Vincent said.

“What would you know about sports!” Madison said, “You spend all of your time in the woods!”

“That-” Vincent said.

“We should get going, besides, I don’t arguing is a good idea right now.” I said.

“Whatever! I’ll find a way to football in here!” Madison said.

“ _ Sure _ ..” Vincent said.

After that, we moved down the hall, to the right, and into what was called a “Pool Room”. It turned out to be a bar of sorts. I don’t know why there’s a bar, since we’re all too young to drink, even the oldest member of our class, Cole, was 20, well, before he died..

The room had a bar on the right side, a few chairs against the walls, and a pool table in the center of the room. A shelf to the left is lined with various objects. There is also another door on the other side of the room.

“Oh hello!” Katrina greeted, “What are you guys up to?”

“Uh, we’re just exploring, you?” I said.

“Lucy and I were just hanging out and relaxing!” Katrina said.

“She’s the one who’s relaxing, I’m playing pool.” Lucy said, and indeed she was.

“Okay.” I said, “Uh, where’s that door go?” I asked, gesturing to the other door.

“That? That leads to another hallway, the one from that other door.” Lucy explained.

“Well that solves that mystery then.” I said.

“That’s a mystery to you? So much for our detective-in-chief.” Lucy said.

“Lucy!” Katrina yelled, “That’s not how you-!”

“Yeah, yeah. I know, but now isn’t exactly the right time to talk about this.” Lucy said, “We’re trying to relax right now, remember?”

“Pshh, stop being so reluctant about it.” Katrina said.

“S-shut up!” Lucy said, turning towards Katrina.

“Well, we’re going to go now..” I said.

“Okay, bye!” Katrina said.

* * *

The next room, which was to the forward, and right of the pool room, was an Art Room. There was a dry-erase board on the main wall, various paints on a shelf to the right, and supplies to it’s left. There were multiple tables that lined the room, presumably where you’d paint.

“An art room, Cool.” Vincent commented.

“Yeah, I can finally sculpt in peace.” Thomas said, still working on that bottle-ship he has been working on.

“Don’t you do it alone anyways?” I asked.

“Does it matter?” Thomas responded.

“I mean, not really.” I said.

“Well, I can’t find anything!” Elizabeth complained.

“It’s an Art room, not a Sewing room, Elizabeth.” Thomas said.

“Designing and Styling clothes  _ IS _ art! Sewing is just the boring part.” Elizabeth said.

Thomas sighed, “The materials you need are probably in the Storage Room.”

“Everything is in there.” Vincent said.

“Thanks? I’ll be back then!” Elizabeth said, before running off.

“So, uh, when do you think you’ll finish that Thomas?” I asked.

“Eh, a few days, give or take, couldn’t do it for the last few days, Monokuma’s dumb motive prevented me from building it.” Thomas said.

“My motives are not dumb!” Monokuma interjected, having appeared, “Besides, couldn’t you have gotten, like, Warrick or somebody to build it for you?” 

“No.”

“Well, why not!?” Monokuma asked.

“I doubt he’d be interested, and anyone else building it wouldn’t give it the same meaning it does when I do it.” Thomas explained, “Besides, don’t you have anything else more important to do?”

“N-no!” Monokuma said, “Then again, I could work on my motives some more.. Toodles!”

Then it disappeared.

“Stupid bear..” Vincent mumbled.

After that, Vincent and I split up for the time, I decided to come to my room and think for a little while. And after a while, I decided to get out, and go spend my free time with someone.


	26. Chapter 3: Paranoia's Despair Part 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Garrett spend his free time, and a new motive is revealed.

I found Katrina, not with Lucy for a change, in the 3rd Floor’s courtroom. There were multiple mats layed on the floor.

“Hey Katrina.” I greeted, having walked in.

“Ah-! Oh, Hey Garrett!” She greeted back, “How are you?”

“Good, you?” I responded.

“I’m doing fine!” She responded, “I’m just going over some of my taekwondo moves!”

“Cool, is it okay if I watch for a little? Martial Arts have always been interesting to me.” I asked.

“Uh..” She said, “Sure! Having company isn’t bad!”

“Okay, I’ll just sit over here then.” I said, before walking over to the bleachers.

Then I watched Katrina go-over her taekwondo moves for a while, before she finished with breaking a board.

“Cool!” I gushed.

“Well they don’t call me an Ultimate for nothing!” Katrina said, “Well, all of us for that matter!”

“Yeah..” I said, “Question though, why’d you get into taekwondo in the first place?”

“Well, it was just always something I was interested in, it always helped to have an activity to do out of home!” She explained.

“Out of home..?” I asked.

“Well yeah, I never really got along with my parents, living where we did didn’t help..” She said.

Her face was muddled with a sadness of some kind, then anger.

“But that doesn’t matter now! I’m here, and it doesn’t matter what they think!” She yelled.

“Are you-?” I asked.

“I’m angry! Just thinking about them makes me mad!” She yelled, “But I should calm down, anger will get me nowhere! That’s what my mentor taught me, and I’m sticking to it!”

“Mentor?” I asked.

“Yeah! He taught and led me to where I am! If we believe in ourselves, we will get out of here together!” She said, “I need to go now, Lucy and I are working on something! Bye!”

Then she ran out of the room.

* * *

Soon enough, I returned to my room and,

*Ding Dong, Bing Bong*

“Ahem,” It was the bear, “It is now 10 PM, Nighttime will soon be taking effect, and certain rooms will be locked off for the night momentarially. Have a happy first night in the killing game!”

Today felt shorter than usual.. That’s probably because of the floor exploration today. But, soon enough, I feel asleep.

* * *

*Ding Dong, Bing Bong*

“This is your Morning Announcement! It is now 8 AM, rooms that were locked off at night will be opened. Let’s have a Happy day in the killing game!”

I groaned, and got ready for the day, and set for the cafeteria.

“Hey.” Vincent greeted.

“Hey.” I greeted back, sitting down, “How was your night?”

“As good as any other night here.” Vincent responded.

“Heya!” Katrina greeted, “Do ya think Lucy and I could sit with you guys?”

“Uh, sure?” I said.

‘No problem.” Vincent said.

“Great!” Katrina said.

And, as said, they both sat at our table.

“Good morning.” I said to Lucy.

“Same.” Lucy responded.

“You’re awfully cynical, aren’t you?” Vincent asked.

“Like it matters, it’s just my perspective on these things.” Lucy said, “In the fact that we’re all likely to die here.”

“That’s not necessarily true-” I said

“On the flip side, you’re awfully optimistic, given our situation.” Lucy said, “N-not that it’s a bad thing! Just an observation..”

“Thanks..?” I said.

“Sure.” Lucy said.

“Okay, does anybody know where David is?” Warrick asked.

“You ask as if you expect an answer.” Mary said.

“Of course I do!” Warrick said.

“Why does it matter? He’s only been angry since Jeane died.” Elizabeth asked.

“Angry at whom?” Warrick said, “He threatened murder, I’d very much like no one else to die.”

“S-still, he won’t come i-if you find him a-anyways.” Christopher said.

“Even if he did, he’ll get all aggressive and probably hurt someone.” Lucy said.

“You mean like Captain Murder over there?” Warrick said, gesturing to Vincent, who flinched at this.

*Ding Dong, Bing Bong*

“What now?” Warrick asked.

“All students, given their not dead, are to report to the Gymnasium immediately!”

“Great.” Thomas said.

“I suppose we should get going then.” Warrick said, before walking off.

“Hey! Wait for me!” Elizabeth yelled.

Soon enough, we all left, and headed for the gym.

* * *

When we all arrived, Monokuma was waiting for us.

“So, you’re all here!” It said, “Even joke-man over there!”

“Shut it.” David said.

“Could you get to why you wanted us already?” Warrick asked.

“And whatever it is, we’re prepared for!” Madison said.

“Well, straight to the point, like an arrow!” It said, “Anyways, as you may have guessed, it’s the motive!”

“What a surprise.” Lucy said.

“So what is it?” Thomas asked.

“Great question, our next motive, are deeply held secrets of yours!” Monokuma announced.

“G-great.” Christopher said.

“Won’t this be motivating, secrets!” Lucy said smugly.

“Don’t be so smug! You haven’t heard them!” It said.

“Then get on with it.” Warrick said.

“Okay! So, in no specific order, our secrets are.. Resents their Father, Has murdered before, Was homeless for a time, Was Interchangeable, Has self-esteem issues, Has Amnesia, Has a crush on another Student, Their sibling is in another Class, Is secretly an introvert, Resents their Mother, and Is Mole for Monokuma!” The bear revealed, then laughed.

Multiple people looked embarrassed, angry, shocked, or the like. Except, one person.

“You think this is funny!?” David yelled.

“Huh?” Monokuma said, “Funny? Nooo, it’s despairing!”

“David, what are you doing?” Warrick asked.

“What am I doing? I’m getting fed up with this stupid bear’s antics!” David said.

“So what? It’s not like you can threaten me!” Monokuma said.

“Threaten? I’ll show you threaten!” David yelled, before running at the bear.

“You are not-!” Vincent yelled, grabbing David’s arm.

Then David punched Vincent.

“You can’t tell me to stop, you killed Jeane! You should be dead right now!” David yelled.

“David!” I yelled.

“Huh? Is Captain Lovestruck taking his anger out on the Hunter?” Monokuma toyed, “Ultimate Comedian is right, he’s a complete joke!”

“That’s it!” David yelled, before running at the bear again.

“David, No!” I yelled.

David ran at Monokuma, and when he got close enough,

“I am the Ultimate Comedian, you ursine prick!” David yelled, kicking Monokuma upwards, then punching it across the gym.

“You have violated Rule 4 of the Killing Game Regulations! Prepare for punishment!” Monokuma said in a very robotic voice.

And then, if almost on command, nails flew from the walls, and impaled themselves into David.

“Gah!” Katrina yelled.

“I-I’m gonna be s-sick!” Christopher yelled.

“D-David!” I yelled.

“G-guess I-I-i g-got n-nailed, h-huh?” David said shakily, before collapsing in a bloody pool.

David was killed, punished, murdered,

 

Dead.


	27. Chapter 3: Paranoia's Despair Part 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The day continues, amongst the fallout of David's death.

David’s bloody corpse lay in front of us, having just been killed by the bear. Needless to say, everyone was in shock.

“Wow-wee!” It yelled, “That was exciting, exhilarating, despairing!”

“Y-you..”

“Huh?” It toyed.

“You just killed him!” I yelled.

“So what?” It asked.

“What?” 

“He knew the rules, but he still attacked me. “ It said, “Besides, it’s your all’s fault anyways! If you had just talked with him, or had even just prevented him from doing that, there’d still be 11 of ya!”

Then it hit us, Six of us had died. Penelope, Natalie, Cole, Jeane, Paul, and now David. And it wouldn’t be long before there was even less of us.

“Oh, that got you thinking, and not the motive!? Whatever! I’m outta here!” Monokuma yelled.

Then Monokuma disappeared, like always.

“D-damn it!” I grunted.

“Well, it seems we have  _ things  _ to discuss.” Warrick said.

“What d-d-do you mean?” Christopher asked.

“I mean the secrets we were just told.” Warrick said.

“Yeah, what is it with those?” Madison asked, “I mean, ‘Was Interchangeable’, ‘Sibling on another class’?”

“What I’m more concerned about is the one relating to murder, and the mole.” Warrick said.

“That does make sense, perhaps we could all discuss these secrets?” Mary suggested.

“Why would the mole admit to it?” Elizabeth asked, “Besides Cole’s dead!”

“But there’s 12 secrets” Mary said, “That’s for all of us, plus one.”

“Maybe the mastermind’s is the twelfth!” Katrina said.

“But Monokuma said there was only 16 of us here from the start, and even then it wouldn’t make any sense, it’d give away that they’re here.” Vincent said.

“But would talking about it really help?” Thomas asked.

“Yes, it would!” Madison yelled, “If we talk about it, then we’ll have no motivation!”

“No.”

“H-huh!?” Madison gasped.

“I refuse to talk about the motive!” Lucy yelled.

“W-why!?” Madison asked.

“I just don’t want to! My secret is my business!” Lucy said.

“Well isn’t that suspicious?” Warrick said.

“S-still-!” Lucy said.

“What’s your secret then!? We have to know now!” Elizabeth pestered.

“G-guys, we shouldn’t be so-!” I said.

“Stop harassing Lucy!” Katrina yelled.

“Or what?” Elizabeth said, “I bet you’re hiding on a secret too!”   
“We’re  _ all  _ sitting on a secret.” Thomas said.

“What about you? I bet your secrets worse than mine!” Katrina yelled.

“Psh! I bet your’s is easy peasy, what could a Hoosier be hiding?” Elizabeth said.

“Over my dead body!” Katrina yelled.

That got Elizabeth to shut up. And everyone else for that matter.

“Let’s go.” Katrina said forcefully.

Then Katrina and Lucy left.

“O-oh yeah!? W-well, I have no problem with-!” Elizabeth yelled.

“Just give it up Liz.” Warrick said.

“F-fine!” Elizabeth said.

Then Warrick looked at all of us.

“We’ll be leaving.” He said.

Then they left, and soon enough, the rest of us dispersed.

* * *

After all that, I ended laying in my bed for a while. I ended up thinking about what had happened. David, a person I met, talked to, was dead. Then again, it’s the same with everybody else who’s died. Penelope, Natalie, Cole, Jeane, Paul, and now David, they were all people, with their own stories and personalities, and now they’re all gone. And apparently, it’s even worse, there’s a dead Class 12, we may’ve been gone for some three years, it’s just all so confusing.

But all of this stems from the same thing, Cole. In that video he mentioned a lot, Class 12, ‘Her Game’, and clues. Whatever that meant remains to be seen, maybe he left some notes around somewhere?

Well whatever he did, I wouldn’t find it doing nothing, so I got up and left for the third floor, we haven't explored that floor much, for clues at least.

* * *

I ended up searching in the Pool Room, turns out, there was a lot of things to look at in here. The bar, as expected, only contained alcohol. The Pool table had nothing to hide. The shelf had a variety of items, only a few of note, there was a pistol in a glass bottle, a mini Monokuma head, and a letter sealed in a glass box.

‘Could that be a clue?’ I thought. So, I went over to grab a ball from the pool table, and began to ready-

“Whaddya think you’re doing!?” Monokuma yelled.

“Gah!” I yelled in surprise, “W-what are-!?”

“What am I doing here? You’re about to vandalize school property!” It yelled, “That breaks School Regulations!”

“O-oh, but, uh, that  _ doesn’t  _ actually.” I said.

“Huh!?” Monokuma questioned, “It doesn’t!?”

“W-well, if you look at the regulations, it’s not one.” I explained, showing it my Student Handbook.

“Wha-wha-wha!?” It stuttered, “I thought-! Gimme a minute!”

Then it brought out a keypad and began to type into it. 

“There we go! Now I don’t have to worry about it!” It said.

Then my handbook rang.

“12. Students may not explicitly Vandalize School property.”

“Okay!? So don’t go breaking my stuff!” It said, before promptly disappearing.

Then I sighed, I’d have to find something else to investigate. So I left the room, and I soon passed the 3rd floor bathrooms, and I pondered searching one, but I decided against it.

“Like there’s a secret passage in the bathroom.” I mumbled.

*Ding Dong, Bing Bong*

“Ahem, It is now 10 PM, Nighttime will soon be taking effect, and certain rooms will be locked off for the night momentarially. Have a happy night in the killing game!”

“Oh.” I said to myself. Then I promptly began to walk to my room, and soon enough, I was there. I got ready, and lied in my bed, wondering about what had happened today, with the secrets. But, soon enough, fell asleep.

* * *

Warrick sat in his room, alone. He had a sheet of paper, names written on it. He was attempting to solve the motive.

“Maybe..” He mumbled, “No..”

He had been doing this all day, attempting to solve it with his limited knowledge of his peers. 

Another Mole? Impossible! 

Interchangable? What does that mean!?

He, of course, knew his. Well, he didn’t.  _ None  _ of them fit him! And how did the Mastermind know these things? Assuming they’re true, that is. 

He crumpled up the paper and threw it at the wall.

He sighed, perhaps Elizabeth could help him? Or maybe someone more outgoing could help?

“No.”

He grabbed another paper and got back to work.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well I'm back! Hiatus over!  
> Also, I've gotten up semi-sprites of everyone, although they're not entirely accurate. They're in the prologue.


	28. Chapter 3: Paranoia's Despair Part 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Next Day Begins, and a new problem arises.

*Ding Dong, Bing Bong*

“This is your Morning Announcement! It is now 8 AM, rooms that were locked off at night will be opened. Let’s have a happy day in the killing game!”

Again, I woke to the same repeated message that we all did, everyday. I then got ready for the day, and set off for the gym.

* * *

Upon entering, something surprising me, there was an actual lack of people. Only Elizabeth, Madison, Mary, Vincent, and surprisingly Christopher were here, leaving four of us absent. Following that, I sat with Vincent, he’s become a friend quickly, and has been a reliable one.

“Hey.” I greeted, “How’ve you been?”

“I’m doin’ fine.” Vincent responded.

“That’s good.” I said, “But, uh, do you have any idea where everyone else is?”

“Nope, they just weren’t here when I arrived.” Vincent said.

“That’s weird thought, don’t Thomas and Warrick usually come everyday?” I asked.

Vincent just stared blankly at me.

“Oh yeah!..” I said, remembering that he hadn’t attended these till a few days ago, “Sorry..”

“Whatever.” Vincent said.

“So, do you have any ideas about the motive?” I asked.

“Yes I do, do you?” Vincent answered.

“Well, uh, none of the secrets seem to fit me, a least, I don’t think so.” I said.

“Really? I found mine easily.” Vincent said.

“Looks like the Mastermind ran out of things to-” I said.

“Okay!” Elizabeth announced, interrupting me, “Since Warrick isn’t here, I’ll be taking the reigns today! Okay!?”

Nobody was able to respond before she continued.

“So, first! Do any of you have an idea where everyone else is?” Elizabeth asked.

“Uh... No.” Madison said.

“Drat!” Elizabeth complained.

“Does it matter all that much?” Mary asked, “The motive was given out yesterday, and it’s more confusing than effective. So I doubt anyone’s been killed.”

“Y-yeah.” Christopher said, “B-but, I-I do think I s-saw Thomas going u-upstairs earlier.”

“Then why’d he go up there!?” Elizabeth asked.

“I-I-I Dunno! I j-just saw him g-go there!” Christopher yelled.

“Ugh! You’re all useless!” Elizabeth yelled, “If none of you will help, I’ll do it myself!”

Then she stomped out of the room, presumably to wherever Thomas went.

“Well isn’t somebody peeved today.” Madison commented.

“Y-yeah..” Christopher said, looking down.

“What does she know? She latches onto Warrick, and then she demands help, like she deserves it!” Madison said, “She can go and buzz off for all I care!”

“Way to be negative, I suppose.” Vincent said.

“Oh like you have any room to talk!” Madison yelled.

“W-whatever..” Vincent said.

* * *

After that happened, we soon split off and I returned to my room. Everyone usually went to the morning meet-ups, so why’d four of us not show up? I mean, Warrick came everyday! So did Thomas if I’m remembering correctly. Lucy and Katrina never missed either, although there was that fight yesterday..

Then I got up, I shouldn’t really waste time, it’s only a matter of time before the bear does something to rile us up again. 

So then I began to roam the halls of the school for a while, and eventually I ran into Vincent in the Archery Room on the second floor.

“Oh, hey Vincent.” I greeted.

“Hey.” He said back, “What brings you here?”

“Nothing much, I was just wandering and then ended up here.” I said, “You?”

“I just felt like I should polish on my aiming skills, I haven’t had the opportunity recently.” He said.

“Well I guess..” I said.

“Well, I was about to shoot, wanna watch?” He asked.

“Sure, I don’t really have anything better to do.” I said.

“Thanks.” He said, which sounded slightly confusing, but I just shrugged it off.

So then I watched Vincent shooting at targets for a time, some still and some moving. And when he walked out..

“So, how was that?” He asked.

“Good, I guess? I don’t really have any experience with guns..” I said, somewhat nervous.

“Oh, okay..” He responded, “I guess I shouldn’t have really expected anything, I mean you  _ are  _ a Historian..”

I gave him a confused look.

“I-I didn’t mean that in a bay way! I just- It’s mostly academic and-” He said.

“It doesn’t really involve shooting things.” I said.

“Y-yeah!” He said, kind of laughing it off.

“Speaking of, how did you ever get into hunting?” I asked.

“Well.. I grew up in Montana, and my father just kinda brought me along to hunt with him, and I just kinda grew into it.” He explained, “I guess I just kept doing it, and eventually I was approached by a Hunting Association, and I ended up going on a safari, and you know the story from there, I helped with protecting endangered species, and then I was approached by Prospect’s Academy.”

“And now we’re here.” I said, “Trapped by a bear in a game where we have to kill to escape.”

“Yeah..” He said, “It’s kinda like survival of the fittest in a twisted way if you think about it.”

“I guess so.. I wonder what twisted mind thought of this game? What trauma brought them to do this?” I said.

“Well, who or whatever they are, I’m sure the both of us, and everyone else here will live to see who they are.” Vincent said.

“Yeah, we can hope so.” I said, “All we can do is Hope.”

“I suppose that’s all we can do besides working to stop the killings.” Vincent said.

“I-it was supposed to be philosophical!” I said.

“Yeah, but still, we to stop what murders we can.” Vincent said, “Or else Monokuma wins.”

“Well yeah, but again, it was supposed to be philosophical, so yeah.” I said.

“Well, we should probably get going, we probably shouldn’t hang around here all day.” Vincent said.

“I guess so.” I said.

And so, we ended up returning to our dorm rooms, and I ended up staying there for a while. And eventually..

*Ding Dong, Bing Bong*

“Ahem,” It was the bear, “It is now 10 PM, Nighttime will soon be taking effect, and certain rooms will be locked off for the night momentarially. Have a happy night in the killing game!”

I felt kinda surprised, today felt shorter than usual, but I guess I was getting tired. So, I ended up getting ready, lied down, and I eventually fell to sleep.


	29. Chapter 3: Paranoia's Despair Part 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A new day begins, and something ahead looms.

*Ding Dong, Bing Bong*

“This is your Morning Announcement! It is now 8 AM, rooms that were locked off at night will be opened. Let’s have a happy day in the killing game!”

I groaned as I woke up, just... Something felt off, more so than usual. I guess my head ached a bit? Nothing major though, I guess. So, I got ready, and soon set out for the cafeteria.

* * *

Upon arriving, it was again mostly empty, except, this time Elizabeth was gone.

“Um, Hi..?” I greeted.

“Heyo!” Madison greeted back.

“So, how is everyone?” I asked, sitting down at a table.

“I’m good!” Madison said.

“I-I’m t-the same a-as always..” Christopher said.

“And what is that supposed to mean?” Vincent asked.

“D-do I really n-need to explain?” Christopher, “I-I’m nervous, l-like always..”

“Okay..” Vincent said suspiciously.

“You seem more composed Christopher, any reason why?” Mary asked, looking up from a book.

“W-why a-are you being s-s-o suspicious all o-of the s-sudden!?” Christopher asked.

“Why are you being so defensive?” Vincent asked.

“W-wouldn’t you b-be!” Christopher yelled, “Y-you- Murderer!” 

Then Christopher ran out of the room.

“Well isn’t someone angsty today?” Mary asked.

“Shouldn’t we follow him, it’s not really that safe, we’re not all here..” I said.

“Well aren’t you the trusting one?” Vincent said snidely

“It’s just- I’m worried.” I said, “You know he faints a lot, right?”   
“Well, yeah.” Vincent admitted.

“Well,” I said, standing up, “I’m gonna go look for him.”

“Just.. Don’t do anything stupid.” Vincent said.

“I don’t plan to!” I said, before promptly leaving.

* * *

So, I began to look for him, and first, logically, I went to his room. Whether we wasn’t there, or if he didn’t respond, I don’t know, his dorm was locked and that was that.

So, I then decided to check if he was upstairs, I mean, it wouldn’t hurt to check. I ended up searching around the first floor for a while, I found were Katrina and Lucy were, they were still playing that game in the Arcade, but they said Christopher hadn’t been there. Then, I ended up on the third floor, and I was walking through the halls, towards the Courtroom, and I heard some people talking, and they appeared to be from the Art Room. I approached to room to find… 

Thomas and Elizabeth painting..?

Well, it was more like Thomas painting Elizabeth, but whatever.

“How’s it going?” Elizabeth said happily.

“It’s- It’s going good!” Thomas said, attempting to hide snickers.

I walked up to Thomas, “Um.. What’s happening here..?” I asked.

“Oh!” Thomas said in surprise, “I’m just- ‘Painting’ Elizabeth.”

“Don’t bother him Webster!” Elizabeth said insultingly, “I want this to be perfect!”

“It’ll be perfect alright!” Thomas snickered.

“Why are you laughing so much?” I asked Thomas.

He gestured to the painting.. Which seemed to be more of a gross caricature than a painting.

“She’s gonna freak!” Thomas snickered.

“T-that’s not exactly a good thing-!” I said.

“Yeah, but what is she gonna do? Kill me?” Thomas said.

“I wouldn’t think so, but do you have to!?” I asked.

“It’s just a harmless prank Garrett, don’t be so uptight about it.” Thomas said.

“I’m not uptight!” I said.

“Yeah, but Warrick is.” Thomas said.

“Don’t insult Warrick!” Elizabeth yelled.

“I’m pretty sure I know what  _ someone’s  _ secret is.” Thomas said.

“S-shut up!” Elizabeth yelled.

“Well, I’m going to leave now, I have something to do..” I said.

“See ya.” Thomas said.

Walking out, I realized I had never checked the pool room, so I walked over and opened the door to find the room devoid of people. I walked around the room and found nobody, so I decided to just stop looking for a while, if I couldn’t find Christopher, probably nobody else would unless he exposed himself.

I left the room and turned left, and walked for a short bit, ending up in front of the lab room. I decided to look in, and I saw Mary working on something, I guess everyone had dispersed while I was gone. Then Mary raised her head, at first looking for something, then, she looked up and saw me at the door. Then she gestured for me to come in, so I did.

“Uh, hi?” I greeted, somewhat reluctant, “Why’d you-”

“Invite you in?” She asked, “Just seemed like you wanted to talk with someone.”

“Well I guess I do..” I said.

“Where were we last time? I remember talking about my co-workers at some point.” She said.

“We talked about that a long time ago, I think it was before Penelope died..” I said.

“Yes…” She said, “But yes, I do remember it being a while ago, regardless, would you like to know what I’m working on?”

“I mean, I guess so.” I said.

“I’m mainly working on some dyes, Elizabeth asked me to make some for her a while ago.” Mary said.

“Anything else?” I asked.

“I’m working on some acids, they could help us melt the bars covering the windows, it’s certainly help us escape.” She explained.

“It’d help, I guess, but wouldn’t the new rule be against that?” I asked.

“I’m sure there’s a loophole, the bear is very specific about this stuff, and I’m guessing he left loopholes in.” She said.

“I mean, it’d make this ‘game’ more exciting, it would want that.” I reasoned.

“Perhaps, or he would like the murders to be more complex, which would lead to us all dying.” She said, “Even so, what kind of person does this? Locks students in a School, a well known one at that, and tells them they have to kill to escape?”

“Well, I guess we’ll find that out before we leave.” I said, “Or we’ll solve that before then.” 

“Question, Garrett.” Mary said.

“Yeah?” I said.

“Why are you being so.. Optimistic, given our situation?” She asked.

“Well, I guess it’s because we’ve moved from historical depths to where we are now, and the future is bright. I’m just kinda hoping for the best here, that we all get out.” I said.

“Interesting..” Mary murmured, “Well, I’m sure you have better things to do, so I’ll let you loose.”

“Okay?” I said, confused.

So, I ended up walking out, and eventually back to my room, where I stayed for a while. Then, almost randomly, I heard a knock at the door. Then I got up to check it out, and when I opened a door, I saw a note on the floor, it read: “I need to talk to you. Meet me on the 3rd Floor after Nighttime begins. - Warrick.”

“What..?” I said.

I walked back in, and placed the note on my desk, and then sat down. I guess I had something to do later, but, there was still daylight before then, so I decided to get out and do something else before then.


	30. Chapter 3: Paranoia's Despair Part 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Day continues.

Walking around alone is actually quite refreshing, well, without the thought that you could die at any moment. But I have faith in my friends, I’m sure they wouldn’t kill, well, I think they wouldn’t, but I’m an optimist, so I’ll trust in them.

After walking alone with my thoughts for a while, I ended up stumbling into Madison on the 3rd Floor.

“Oh, hey Madison!” I greeted.

“Heyo!” Madison greeted back.

“How are you?” I asked.

“Well, I’m doing fine, I just have to do something!” Madison said.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“Sports! Exercise! I need to do something!” Madison yelled, “I’m feeling energetic today!”

“Well, uh, is there anything I could do to-?” I asked.

“Yes!” She yelled, before she promptly grabbed onto my wrist, and then began to drag me somewhere.

* * *

She ended up dragging me to the Courtroom, I guess that makes sense, it’s a Courtroom! Although it’s not usually used for football…

“So uh, what’re we going to be doing?” I asked.

“Gotta get something!” She yelled, running into the storage room.

“Okay..” I said.

When she was finished, she came out in a football uniform, carrying another.

“Here, put this on!” She said, throwing it at me.

“O-oh!” I said, almost dropping the stuff.

“So, Question, how strong do you think you are?” She asked me, as I put the uniform on.

“Well, I wouldn’t say I’m that strong, I guess I’m just average, I’ve never really gone out to exercise that much.” I said, putting the uniform on.

“Well, we’re about to find out!” She yelled.

“Wha-” I said, confused, before realizing Madison was charging at me.

So, Madison ended up chasing and tackling me for a while, I guess it could help with stamina, but I wouldn’t know.

I ended up panting on the floor, fatigued from the experience.

“I guess I tired you out, didn’t I?” Madison said, half jokingly.

“Y-yeah..” I said, “Why’d we even do that?”

“I dunno, I just used to do it a lot for practice!” She said.

That wasn’t very surprising.

“Well, I better hit the shower! You should too though, you look sweaty.” She said bluntly.

“Sure..” I said.

* * *

After that, I ended up going back to my dorm for a while, I took a shower, and then I just relaxed for a while. Then, I decided to walk for a bit, and when I walked into the cafeteria, I was surprised to find Mary and Vincent there.

“Oh uh, Hi guys.” I greeted.

“Hello.” Mary said simply.

“Hey.” Vincent greeted back.

“So, what brings you guys here?” I asked.

“I felt hungry, so I made myself something to eat.” Mary said.

“More or less the same.” Vincent said.

“That makes sense.” I said.

“Did either of you catch where the absent people were?” Vincent asked.

“I saw Thomas and Elizabeth in the Art Room,” I said, “Lucy and Katrina were also in the Arcade again.”

“I’m pretty sure Warrick’s been hold up in his room, but I wouldn’t know.” Mary said.

“You think he’s okay?” I asked.

“He isn’t an idiot, I’m sure he’s kept care of himself.” Mary said.

*Ding Dong, Bing Bong*

“Ahem,” It was the bear, “It is now 10 PM, Nighttime will soon be taking effect, and certain rooms will be locked off for the night momentarially. Have a happy night in the killing game!”

“Well, we should be going anyways.” Mary said, getting up.

“Yeah..” I said.

Then we all walked out of the cafeteria.

“See you tomorrow.” Mary said, walking to the dorms.

“Haven’t these last few days been slow to you?” Vincent asked.

“Well I guess so, it’s felt faster to me.” I said.

“Guess we all have different perspectives then.” Vincent said, “Well, we better get going-”

Then Elizabeth came stomping down the stairs, she was angry.

“Elizabeth?” I said.

“Don’t talk to me Webster!” Elizabeth yelled, before stomping to the dorms.

“Well that happened.” I said, knowing what probably set her off.

“Well, I’m gonna head to bed, it’s getting late.” Vincent said.

“I.. think I left something upstairs.” I said.

“Well, don’t take too long, anything can happen at night.” Vincent said.

“I won’t.” I said, “Night.”

“Night..” He said, before promptly walking to the dorms.

“Okay..” I muttered to myself, “Better get to the 3rd floor.”

Then, I began to climb upstairs, and when I arrived at the 2nd floor..

“Hey guys.” I said.

“Oh- Hi!” Lucy greeted back.

“Hey Garrett!” Katrina greeted.

“You guys leaving the arcade?” I asked.

“Y-yeah.” Lucy said, clearly holding something behind her.

“Well, we better get going!” Katrina said.

“Okay then.. See you tomorrow.” I said.

“Yeah, tomorrow!” Katrina said.

“Let’s just go!” Lucy said, taking Katrina’s arm, and rushing downstairs.

“Okay..” I said, before resuming my trip.

Then I began to wonder why Warrick asked for me that way, it’s not like he needed to use a note, he could’ve just talked to me, he didn’t really have a reason not to I guess. Regardless of why, I walked into the 3rd floor, and promptly turned left to see...  
“Christopher?” I said, confused.

Christopher looked completely different than this morning, even accounting for him running away, but he shouldn’t look this bad!

“Why are you-?” I asked.

“Yah!” He yelled.

Then, out of nowhere, he swung the bottle he was holding in his hands and-

 


	31. Chapter 3: Paranoia's Despair Part 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A New Day Begins.

*Ding Dong, Bing Bong*

“This is your Morning Announcement! It is now 8 AM, rooms that were locked off at night will be opened. Let’s have a happy day in the killing game!”

I groaned, another repeat of the same repetitive message. 

I moved the hair out of my face before moving to the bathroom. I combed my hair to either side, and then tied it in a hairband. 

Why do I do it? Because some of it decided one day, to stick up, and then everybody bullies you over it, stupid hair. On the small, small, brightside, the ponytail looks nice.

I tossed my hoodie on, right before I heard a number of knocks at my door. It was going to be Katrina, it was always Katrina. We’ve grown closer, especially since she admitted her secret to me, she already knew mine.

I walked to open the door, and Katrina began to speak, bubbling with enthusiasm.

“Good Morning Lucy!” She greeted.

“Morning.” I greeted back.

“How didja’ sleep?” She asked.

“Fine.” I said.

“Do you still have the thing?” She asked.

“Oh uh, Yeah.” I said, remembering it, we had been spending the last few days getting enough tickets to get this Wolf-like thing from the Arcade. To be honest, I don’t know why I thought that in particular would be the best thing to get, but we have it now, so it doesn’t matter.

“Well, we better get going.” Katrina said, “It’d look suspicious if we didn’t go to the morning meeting!”

“Unlike the past 2 days.” I said snarky.

“You know what I mean!”

* * *

By the time we arrived to the cafeteria, everyone was there, sans Warrick, Christopher and Garrett. Everyone looked normal, Mary was reading, Most everyone was chatting, and Vincent just looked concerned. Katrina and I just sat together next to where everyone else was, and we just kinda sat for a while before Warrick entered the room.

“Hey Guys..” Warrick said before promptly yawning.

Warrick looked devoid of sleep, as if he had been staying up without sleep for days. And, expectedly, Elizabeth took immediate concern.

“What the Hell?- What happened!?” Elizabeth yelled.

“I was trying to solve the damn motive..” Warrick explained.

“And you stayed up all night!?” Elizabeth yelled.

“Well, He’s been gone for a while, so I’d say about 2 days in actuality.” Mary said.

“Whatever, why’d you do it!?” Elizabeth asked.

“I didn’t want the- Monokuma to get anyone killed..” Warrick said.

“More importantly, did you find anything?” Vincent asked.

“You have some nerve to talk to him like that-!” Elizabeth yelled.

“Liz, lay off him..” Warrick said, “But no, I couldn’t find anything.”

“So you wasted your time?” Thomas asked.

“More or less, even so, the secrets don’t make sense! ‘Was Interchangeable’, ‘Introverted’, ‘Has a Crush’, they’re stupid!” Warrick said.

I would have said something, but I opted to not.

“Whatever man, you’re not dead, that’s all that matters.” Thomas said.

“Thanks.. Or something.” Warrick said.

“Does anyone know where Garrett is?” I asked, “A-and Christopher too for that matter.”

“Thinking about it, no.” Mary said.

“Christopher ran off yesterday.” Madison said, “Garrett chased after him, but that was in the morning.”

“I can go look for him..” Warrick offered.

“No!” Elizabeth, “Uh- Lucy! You go look!”

“Why..?” I asked.

“Because you asked, Okay!?” Elizabeth yelled.

“Hey! Don’t-!” Katrina said.

“If you’re gonna complain so much, just go with her!” Elizabeth yelled.

“Aren’t you being a bit harsh?” Mary asked.

“Does it look like I care!?” Elizabeth yelled as we left.

* * *

Then Katrina and I began to walk to the dorms.

“Why does she have to be so aggressive?” Kartina complained.

“I think it’s because of Warrick.” I said.

“How so?” She asked.

“She’s only been aggressive since the motive was given out, and Warrick was gone that entire time, so yeah.” I explained.

“Makes sense.” She said.

Then we happened upon Garrett’s dorm.

“Doesn’t this feel familiar?” Katrina teased.

“Oh shut it.” I said, but it did feel familiar, I did this the very first day here.

Then Katrina knocked on the door. And, after a while, she knocked again. And Again.

“This is redundant.” I sighed.

“You never know-!” Katrina said.

“Let’s just check upstairs already.” I said.

So, we began to walk towards the stairs. We remained quiet for a while, then by the time we ended up on the stairs..

“Do you think.. They’ll accept me?” She asked.

“I doubt it’d change anything.” I said.

“Do you really though? I mean, I’ve had to hide it for years..” She said.

“Look,” I said, stopping, “The people who would hate you for it, demonize you, and have never met someone like you. The people here, they’ve met you, and are friends with you. I doubt it’d change anything. And, I mean, we accepted  _ Vincent  _ into the group, it wouldn’t be hard for you.”

“I- J-, Thanks.” She said.

“No problem. Now, can we get back to searching?” I asked.

“Yup!” She said.

So, we continued to walk up, before we ended up on the third floor, where we saw-

“What the hell..?” I said.

There was blood. A small trail of blood lead was on the ground that was surrounded by some shards of glass.

“B-blood!?” Katrina said in surprise.

“It leads to that hall, c’mon!” I said.

We followed the blood through the hall turning into that door that led to the pool room. When we reached the other door, it wouldn’t budge.

“Come on!” I yelled in frustration.

“We’re gonna have to go the long way!” Katrina said.

Then we began to run around the floor, ending up in front of the pool room. When we reached it, I hastily grabbed the door knob and opened the door to find-

  
  


Christopher was hunched over the pool table, blood surrounding him.. 

And…

Garrett, hunched up against the other door, covered in blood, with a pistol in his hand.

“Oh my god-!” Katrina said.

“I.. Never.. go-..” Is what I managed to spurt out.

“W-we gotta tell everyone!” Katrina said.

I just stood there for a moment, devoid of virtually any feeling.

Except one.

 

_ Despair. _

 

“Come on Lucy!” Katrina yelled, grabbing my arm, and running, which I promptly did as well.

We ran, and  _ fast _ , and we quickly ended up back on the first floor, out of breath.

“G-guys!” Katrina said, in between breaths, “G-Garrett and Christopher are-!”

*Ding Dong, Dong Ding*

“H-huh?”

“A body has been discovered! Now, after a certain amount of time has passed, a Class Trial will be held!” Monokuma announced, “And I’m sure  _ one of you _ , is  _ very  _ confused right now! Ke-Hahahaha-Ha!!”


	32. Chapter 3: Paranoia's Despair Part 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We Begin a New Day.

“Ngh..”

 

It was... Cold.

I hadn’t the faintest idea what was happening, or what had happened.

First, I heard knocks, then I heard footsteps, and then _Gasps_. After that, more footsteps. Then I began to wake up.

I raised my hand to feel my head, but.. There was a gun.

_A bloody gun_.

Then it hit me, I was _covered_ in blood.

I stood up, grabbing hold of a chair, dropping the gun.

I rubbed my head. It was throbbing hard.

I looked around. I was in the Pool Room. Not alone though. Christopher lied dead on the pool table, I was in complete shock.

But, how?

*Ding Dong, Dong Ding*

“What..?”

“A body has been discovered! Now, after a certain amount of time has passed, a Class Trial will be held!” Monokuma announced, “And I’m sure _one of you_ , is _very_ confused right now! Ke-Hahahaha-Ha!!”

It struck me. He was dead, and we’ll have a Class Trial.

But, what had even happened? How long was I out? And what’d-

“What the hell!?”

Everyone had arrived. Elizabeth moreso.

“Garrett! What the Hell did-!?” Elizabeth yelled.

Multiple people interrupted her.

“Garrett! What happened!?” Madison yelled, rushing over.

“I-”

“It seems he was attacked.” Mary said.

“Well..” Vincent said, analyzing me, “It looks like he’s fine for the most part.”

“Well, I’m glad you’re safe!” Thomas said somewhat cheerfully, patting me on the back.

I looked around the room. I was lucky to have these people as friends-

“Y-you..”

“Huh?” I said.

“Lucy? What’s wrong?” Katrina asked her friend.

“You _Idiot!_ ” Lucy yelled, “What the _Hell_ did you do!?”

“Lucy! What are you-!?” Vincent said.

“Shut up!” Lucy yelled, “I get to be angry! He almost got himself killed, I thought he was _dead!_ ”

“Well you’ll be dead if you don’t shut up!” Elizabeth yelled, “Garrett! I want an explanation _now!_ ”

“W-what do you mean-?” I asked.

“You go missing, and you end up in the same room as a dead body-!” Elizabeth yelled.

“Hey! That’s my line!” Monokuma yelled.

“Gah!” Warrick yelled in surprise…

Why did Warrick look so drained?

“Why are you here!?” Lucy asked.

“Isn’t it _obvious!?_ We have a corpse in here!” Monokuma said, “We get to experience another Class Trial!”

“Oh yeah.” Thomas said, “Don’t we get A Monokuma File?”

“Yessiree!” Monokuma said, doing nothing.

“Can you just give us the damn file?” Lucy asked.

“Fine!” Monokuma yelled, right before our Student Handbooks began to ring.

I took mine out, and opened it to read: “The Victim was Christopher Tompkins. His body was discovered strewn on the Pool Table in the pool room on the 3rd Floor. The Victim has one gunshot wound on his neck, causing near-immediate death. He died during Night Time.”

“Happy!?” Monokuma asked.

“I guess so?” Katrina said.

“Good!” Monokuma said.

“So uh, should we get investigating?” I asked.

“No.” Elizabeth said.

“Huh?” I said.

“Well why can’t he!?” Vincent said.

“Because he’s a suspect.” Elizabeth said.

“Aren’t we all-!?” Vincent said.

“Duh, but are we really going to trust the guy who’s covered in blood?” Elizabeth questioned.

“Well, no..” Madison said.

“Regardless of that, someone should.. Escort.. Garrett to get himself washed up.” Mary said.

“I can do it!”

Huh?

“Why should we let _you_ help him!?” Madison said.

“Because, I wouldn’t want to get in the way of your investigation! Besides, it’s not like I’ll do anything! I follow the rules to the dot!” Monokuma said, “As long as he doesn’t break em’, he’ll be fine!”

“Well-” Madison said.

“See ya!” Monokuma said, “Come on Blood-Friend!”

“W-woah!” I said in surprise, as it dragged me away.

* * *

So, I ended up walking with… _It_. For a bit. I was nervous, no duh, because it could kill me at any moment really, and I didn’t like it at all.

“ _So_. Quite the Case you have there!” It said, “And I’m betting you’re quite nervous about it!”

“Like you’re any better..” I mumbled, “ _Murderer_.”

“Well, I was expecting a response like that, but you’re pretty harsh!” It said, “Besides! The Clown broke the rules! And I know you’re smarter than that Garrett!”

Monokuma.. Was acting weird, out of character even, but it was Monokuma, what was I going to expect from it?

“Okay, not one for small talk, are ya?” It said.

“Not with you.”

“Fine, fine..” It said, “How about this? I help you!”

“What.” I said in a monotone voice.

“I mean, I’ll help you in the Trial-!” It said.

“No! Why would I _ever_ accept that!?” I said.

“Uhm.. Because you’d like to live?” It said.

“You killed my friend! You Trapped us in here! You’ve caused every death that's happened in here!” I yelled, “Why would I ever take help from you!?”

“Sheesh! Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed!”

I just glared at it angrily.

“Fine! Be Angry!” It yelled back, “I don’t need another stinkin’ Mole!”

I began to walk towards the dorms.

“But..”

I stopped.

“I think I’ll leave you, with a little bit of..” It said, “ _Encouragment_.”

That wasn’t Monokuma. That wasn’t it’s voice.

 

It was Penelope’s.

 

“Don’t give up! I’m sure you’ll be able to solve this!” It said, in Penelope’s voice.

“W-what are you-?”

“I believe in you! After all, you’re my-” It said in Penelope's voice, before,  “You’re stuck here forever! Kehahaha!”

“W-what was that-!?” I asked.

“Oh, y’know, some archival recordings!” It explained, “It’s hard to find these, so you’d better be grateful!”

Then it disappeared.

I was.. Baffled.

“I..” I said, “J-... Whatever.”

I then walked over to my dorm room, and started to clean myself up. I didn’t end up taking that long, since I wanted to get to the investigation.

I quickly re-dressed myself, and left for the third floor, I had work to do.


	33. Chapter 3: Paranoia's Despair Part 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Investigation begins.

It had been probably a little over a half-hour at most since Monokuma had taken me downstairs, and I was back with renewed invigorism.

By the time I had ended up on the third floor, I ended up bumping into Vincent who seemed to be looking at something.

“What are you looking at?” I asked.

“Glass,” He said, “and what I suppose is your blood.”

Considering where we were, I should’ve considered that.

“Have you found anything?” I asked.

“I found nothing besides glass.” He said, “Just glass and blood. Although Mary collected some of the blood here, so I’d probably ask her.”

“But the blood’s obviously mine!” I said, “Christopher attacked me!”

“That’s not the conclusion they reached, because you’re the suspect here.” He explained, “Not that I think you did it! I don’t, it’s just that they came to that conclusion.”

“Okay.. But, why are you still here then?” I asked.

“Dunno really, I kinda started putin’ it back together, and it ended up like this.” He explained.

The glass looked like what used to be a bottle.

“I think I’ve seen that before!” I said, “It must’ve come from the Pool room!”

“Well, wherever it came from, the culprit definitely didn’t want it to be found.” Vincent said.

“Well, I better get going, Investigation and all!” I said.

“Guess I’ll continue to do my own thing.. I guess..” Vincent said.

I decided to proceed to the Pool room, since that’d probably be where most of the evidence would be. I passed by the Lab on the way there, and saw Mary working on something, but I continued to the Pool room.

When I ended up there, the first thing I saw was Thomas overlooking the room.

“Hey.” I greeted.

“Don’t try anything.” Thomas said back, which was very different than how he was acting earlier.

“I.. Won’t..?” I said.

I walked over to the corner area, the one where all the blood is. Looking at it, most of the blood is still wet and all, but a substantial amount of it is dry.

“Whatcha lookin’ at?”

“Wha-! Madison!”

“What? I-” Madison said.

“Both of you! Shut it!” Elizabeth scolded, “Warrick’s trying to concentrate!”

“You don’t need to be so harsh..” Warrick said.

“ _ Sure _ . Just, be quieter! Unlike  _ her _ ..” Elizabeth said angrily.

“Who’s she talking about?” I asked Madison.

“Katrina.” Madison responded, “But now, answer me!”

“I-I was just looking at the blood!” I said.

“Any particular reason why?” She asked.

“It’s just,  _ how? _ ” I said, “It couldn’t be my blood, and Christopher’s over on the Pool table.”

“Well, this gun may help with that!” Madison said, bringing up a pistol.

“Gah!” I said in surprise, “Where did you-?!”

“Well, it was on the floor, and Lucy said they saw it in your hand when they got here.” Madison explained, “Maybe you shot him when he was near you?”

“I didn’t shoot him!” I said.

“Eh, I was guessing you would say that,” Madison said, “Then again, Lucy and Vincent were very adamant about you being innocent..”   
“They were?” I asked, I was expecting Vincent to, but  _ Lucy? _

“Well yeah, they were just vocal about it, but more-or-less Elizabeth, Thomas, and Warrick led the discussion the way it went.” Madison said.

That wasn’t much of a surprise.

“So, have you found anything noteworthy?” I asked.

“Well, besides the gun, which is pretty important, I noticed that some what’s-its are missing!” Madison said.

“What’s-its?” I asked.

“Yeah, those thingies! On the shelf!” Madison said, and when I turned to look, there was a noticeable portion of the items missing.

“I guess there are missing items.” I said.

“Yeah! I think they were gears and such!” Madison said.

“What makes you say that?” I asked.

“This contraption!” Madison said, pointing to the ground.

“Huh?” I said, looking to indeed find some contraption connected to both of the doors.

I squatted down to look at it, and it appeared to be a triggered-mechanism, like a tripwire.

“Wonder what it’s for..” I said.

“Yeah, well, that’s all I got.” Madison said, “This isn’t exactly plentiful for evidence. Speaking of, did you find anything?”

“Not really, considering the fact I was knocked out and then had to wash up.” I said.

“If you  _ didn’t  _ commit the murder, why were you here anyways?” Thomas asked out of the blue.

“Well, I got a note from..” I said, picking it from my pocket, “Warrick saying to come up here.”

“A note?” Thomas said.

“From  _ Warrick? _ ” Elizabeth asked with a certain tone.

“Well, that’s what it says.” I said.

“He hasn’t left his room in  _ days! _ How could he have wrote that!?” Elizabeth asked.

“Well, he  _ could  _ be using it as cover.” Madison said.

“I didn’t write no letter.. Warrick mumbled.

“Has he been like that the entire time?” I asked.

“He’s been getting better!” Elizabeth said.

“Okay, well, I better get going, there’s probably something else to check out.” I said, before leaving.

I decided to go the Lab, mainly because whatever Mary was doing was probably finished, and important.

“Hey.” I greeted.

I entered the room to find Mary working with some machine, and Lucy and Katrina watching.

“Ah, hello.” Mary greeted back.

“Hey Garrett!” Katrina greeted.

Lucy just kinda.. Didn’t care? She was focused on the blood.

I walked over, “So uh, what are you doing?” I asked.

“I decided to test the blood, and see who’s it was.” Mary said, “I got some from the Pool room, and scraped some dry blood from the hall.”

“Did you find anything?” I asked.

“Well, the samples from the Pool room, are more-or-less mostly Christopher’s, and what I got from the hall is your’s.” Mary explained.

“I guess that’s relieving, but how did Christopher’s blood get all over me if he was on the table?” I asked.

“I don’t have a solid answer for that, but it’s probably because of the gun they found.” Mary said.

“We found it in  _ your  _ hand.” Lucy said.

“Lucy!” Katrina scolded.

“What!? It’s true!” Lucy argued.

“Well you don’t have to be so-” Katrina said.

*Ding Dong, Bing Bong*

“Well then, your time is up! Everyone, please report to the elevator, and we’ll be ready for the class trial! I hope you’re all ready for it!” Monokuma announced.

“Ah.” Mary said, “I suppose it was time anyways. We’d better get going.”

Mary then left the room, and we promptly followed.

When we exited the room, everyone else was leaving as well, but I saw Elizabeth sneak off to what seems to be the Art room. So, I followed. 

I peeked inside the room to find her… Bashing up a painting, specifically the one Thomas painted. When she finished, she ended up bumping into me.

“What are-!?” Elizabeth reacted, “Actually, I don’t have time for this!”

She ended up storming off down the hall. I decided to do the same, but I saw that she got some paint on me, so I decided to go wash it off.

Upon entering the Boy’s bathroom, I was startled with there being a lot of blood in one of the sinks, which was very startling. I ended up washing off quickly before joining the others.

“Finally.” Lucy said when I arrived.

Katrina didn’t bother to stop her this time.

And, soon enough..

“You all better be ready! This is sure to be an exciting trial!” Monokuma said.

“I hope I am..” Madison mumbled.

And slowly, we all boarded the elevator, then it began to descend.

* * *

“Welcome back once again! To our Trial Room! Please take your stand, and we can begin!” Monokuma said.

“I’m sure it’ll be  _ interesting _ .” Thomas said.

We all silently walked to our podiums. 

I was so sure, but not at the same time. I know I didn’t kill Christopher, I’m certain, but who did otherwise? I wouldn’t have believed it could’ve been anyone here if anyone asked me before coming here, but, being here as long as I have been, it had to be one of us..

Christopher was killed by one of us, and, we’d all have to find out if we wanted to survive. Then, we’d have to Hope that this wouldn’t happen again.

We’d have to Hope.

* * *

_ Truth Bullets: _

  * Blood Trail: There’s a blood trail leading from the 3rd floor stairs to the Pool Room, specifically from the hall door.
  * Broken Bottle: There is a broken bottle in the Hallway.
  * Gun: There is a bloody pistol in the Pool Room, it was found on Garrett before he awoke.
  * Monokuma File 3: The Victim was Christopher Tompkins. His body was discovered strewn on the Pool Table in the pool room on the 3rd Floor. The Victim has one gunshot wound on his neck, causing near-immediate death. He died during Night Time.
  * Note: Garrett received a note that read: “I need to talk to you. Meet me on the 3rd Floor after Nighttime begins. - Warrick.”
  * Secret Motive: The motive given out by Monokuma, a secret relating to each student.
  * Nighttime: Multiple people were out for a short time right after Nighttime started, including Mary, Vincent, Garrett, Elizabeth, Lucy, Katrina, Thomas, and Christopher.
  * Gears and Wiring: There’s wiring and gears in the Pool Room, it’s connected to both of the doors.
  * Warrick’s State: Warrick is completely drained of energy, having been up for multiple nights.
  * Shelf: The Shelf of collectables has a missing item.
  * Pool of Blood: There’s a pool of blood in the Pool room.
  * Blood: The blood in the Pool room in Christopher’s while the blood in the Hall is Garrett’s.
  * 3rd Floor Bathroom: The third floor bathroom has dried blood in one of the sinks.




	34. Chapter 3: Paranoia's Despair Part 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Trial Begins.

_ Class Trial Start. _

“Now then, let’s begin with a basic explanation of the class trial! You all will debate and discuss who you think the blackened is, and when you’ve all come to a conclusion, you’ll vote on who you think the culprit is! If you get it right, I’ll only punish the blackened, and the rest of you will continue the killing game! But if you get it wrong, I’ll punish everyone besides the blackened!” Monokuma explained, “Now then, let’s get to the trial!”

“So where should we start, with the murder weapon?” Thomas asked, “We pretty much do that first every time we’re here.”

“Well, it’s obviously the pistol I found, and it lines up with the Monokuma File!” Madison said.

“Never thought you’d be the one to lead the conversation..” Elizabeth murmured, “Considering-”

“Whatever Elizabeth, but still, the Pistol, how in the hell did anyone get it?” Vincent asked.

“What do you mean?” Madison asked.

“Y’know, only I can get guns out of the Archery room.” Vincent said.

“Well by that logic, you’re the one who did it!” Lucy exclaimed.

“I-I didn’t!” Vincent said, “Why would I do it, when it’d be  _ completely  _ obvious!?”

“Because! If you did it, you’d use that as your argument!” Lucy explained.

“But I didn’t!” Vincent said.

“You people..” Warrick mumbled.

Why is Lucy being so aggressive about this? Vincent evidently didn’t do it, he’s changed, and no one’s stupid enough to try that again. 

“Okay, Vincent couldn’t have killed Christopher, his alibi is solid for night time, and even then, I don’t think he’d commit murder again.” I argued.

I noticed Vincent flinching when I ended that, still must be hard for him to remember what he did.

“And what would that be?” Lucy asked.

“Well, he left for the Dorms when night time started, right Mary?” I said.

“Oh, Yeah, I do suppose so.” Mary said.

“Suppose?” Thomas asked.

“I did leave for the dorms right before they did, but I doubt they wouldn’t have gone to the dorms as well.” Mary said.

“S-see! I couldn’t have done it..” Vincent said.

“But where does that leave us now?” Elizabeth said, “If Vincent didn’t do it, where the hell did the gun come from!?-”

“Something’s not right.” Warrick said.

“Huh? W-what’s not right about it?” Vincent asked.

“Garrett said  _ you  _ went to the dorms. He said nothing about himself, and he couldn’t have gone back to the dorms, considering his position this morning.” Warrick said.

“Well, he couldn’t have done that, there’s no evidence for-!” Vincent defended.

“OH yeah! I remember now!” Katrina exclaimed, “Lucy and I saw Garrett go upstair last night!”

“What?” Warrick said sternly.

“You saw him go upstairs?” Thomas said.

Lucy facepalmed, “Yes, we did.”

“He said he was going to get something!” Katrina said.

“Well he evidently  _ didn’t  _ do that.” Warrick said.

“So he must’ve done it, like we had deduced!” Elizabeth exclaimed.

“I-I didn’t murder anybody, C-Christopher attacked me last night!” I defended.

“That would explain the mess we saw.” Mary said, “What were you attacked with then?”

“Christopher attacked me with some bottle, but it definitely wasn’t empty.” I said, “I mean, it knocked me out.”

“That would explain the broken bottle in the hallway..” Vincent said.

“Then where did the bottle come from?” Thomas asked, “Christopher could’ve gotten it from anywhere.”

Anywhere? No, I’m certain I’ve seen it somewhere before..

_ S-H-E-L-F _

_ Break! _

“That’s it! It was on the Pool room shelf!” I exclaimed.

“The shelf?” Thomas said.

“Yeah, along with all those other collectables!” I said.

“Ah, all the adventures I went on to collect those.. Good times!” Monokuma said, “Too bad some idiot messed with them!” 

“Okay then..” Madison said.

“Back to the point, has anyone else see that bottle before?” Warrick asked.

“I saw it when I was playing Pool a few days ago.” Lucy said.

“Okay, so the bottle was in the Pool room, Christopher stole it, and broke it upon Garrett’s head.” Thomas said.

“That has to be what happened, there isn’t any-” I said.

_ “Your argument’s design is awful!” _

“W-what? How is that ‘awful’, it’s what happened!” I said.

“No it isn’t, remember the new rule idiot? You can’t break school property, I think that counts as school property!” Elizabeth argued.

“You have a point, but Monokuma is very stringent with his rules, and he would’ve retaliate if it broke the rule.” I pointed out.

“Then how do you explain it then? What could possibly have let Paranoid Boy break the bottle-!?” Elizabeth asked.

“The Rules.” Mary said.

“What?” Elizabeth said, “How does-?”

“Simple, the Rule states that ‘Students may not  _ explicitly  _ Vandalize School property.’ It specifies ‘explicitly’, and I’m sure we know what that means.” Mary explained, “Monokuma, could you answer that?”

“Ugh, fine! But only because you figured it out!” Monokuma groaned, “Yes, breaking something in secret because it’s a murder weapon or something doesn’t count! Christopher was  _ really  _ onto that..”

“So Christopher could’ve broken the bottle and gotten the gun, but the question is.. How did he die?” Thomas asked.

“That’s what worried me.” Mary said.

“Well, we found the gun in Garrett’s hand, could he have done it?” Madison asked.

“No he couldn’t have, he was knocked out, remember!?” Lucy said.

“Well, if he was knocked out, and Christopher died at night time, if we figure out where everyone was at night time, we can figure out who did it!” Katrina exclaimed.

“Not necessarily.” Warrick said.

“What do you mean by that Warrick?” Katrina asked.

“Okay, there was wiring and some contraption in the Pool room, connected to the doors right?” Warrick asked.

“Oh yeah! That stuff, I never figured out what it did..” Madison said.

“I think it looked like a tripwire of sorts.” I said.

“Exactly, and what do they do?” Warrick asked, again.

“They set off traps, duh.” Lucy said.

“What I think happened, is someone set it off, and killed Christopher.” Warrick said.

“But, wouldn’t the culprit just be who set off the trap?” Thomas asked.

“Not if the trap set Garrett to pull the trigger.” Warrick said.

“B-but, we have no way of knowing that! The gun wasn’t attached to the thing-!” Lucy argued.

“Exactly, we have no way of knowing what happened.” Warrick said, “There’s no conclusive way to solve this case.”

Warrick’s hypotheses shocked everyone.

“You mean, we’re going to have to pick someone randomly?” Vincent said, “That’s suicide!”

“No one else has  _ anything  _ to refute me, otherwise, it’s up to speculation to determine who did it-” Warrick said.

_ “No that’s wrong!” _


	35. Chapter 3: Paranoia's Despair Part 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Trial Continues.

“What do you mean I’m  _ wrong _ ?” Warrick asked.

“Yeah, what do you mean!?” Elizabeth followed.

“What I mean, is that what you’re saying, just.. Couldn’t have happened.” I said.

“What do you mean ‘it couldn’t have happened’?” Warrick asked, “It’s the only thing that could’ve happened. Christopher set up that trap, and it either triggered by someone opening the door, or it was triggered by  _ you _ .”

“But it couldn’t have been! I was knocked out, and by Lucy’s account, the gun wasn’t even attached to the mechanism!” I rebutted.

“He’s right, it wasn’t attached to it.” Lucy said.

“Still!” Warrick said, “How do I know that-!?”

“Ugh.” Thomas groaned.

“What do you want you tasteless-!” Elizabeth yelled.

“You guys are arguing over trivial information.” Thomas said.

“T-trivial!?” Warrick said, “I think the murderer is far from trivial!-”

“Does the gun matter if plenty of details are inconsistent?” Thomas asked.

“Wait, what do you mean inconsistent?” Madison asked.

“Easy, why was Garrett covered in blood, despite being unconscious and Christopher being on the pool table?” Thomas asked.

“That..” Warrick said.

“That makes a good point..” Katrina said.

“Whatever Brawn-for-brains! How does that break Warrick’s argument!?” Elizabeth asked.

“It’s easy.” Thomas said, “Garrett?”

“Oh- Uhm..” I said, “Well, because I was unconscious I couldn’t have shot Christopher, and if he had set the trap up, his blood couldn’t have ended up on me.”

“And with the blood I sampled, virtually all of the blood in the Pool room is assuredly Christopher’s.” Mary said, “So it couldn’t have been faked.”

“So Christopher was shot, Garrett couldn’t have done it, so where does that leave us?” Vincent asked, “There really isn’t anything left, is there?”

“There has to be  _ something _ , we can’t just rely on chance!” Lucy said.

“There’s an easy way to determine who did it actually.” Thomas said.

“How so?” Madison asked.

“Someone activated the trap.” Thomas said.

“But does that necessarily mean whoever opened it killed Christopher?-” Warrick asked.

“Yessiree!” Monokuma interjected, “Even  _ accidentally  _ setting off a trap counts as your kill kehahaha!”

“And that settles that.” Vincent said, “Whoever set the trap off has to be the killer.” 

“Since we know the murder happened at night time, whoever was out during night time is a suspect.” Mary said.

“Well, as mentioned earlier, Vincent and Mary certainly left to the dorms.” Madison said, “And I’m just going to say, I was in my room by then.”

“How do we-” Elizabeth questioned.

“Garrett and I saw Elizabeth stomp over to the dorms as well.” Vincent said.

“Lucy and I walked back to the dorms right after the announcement, we can vouch for eachother!” Katrina said.

“I left right after night time began as well.” Thomas said.

“And  _ I  _ was in my room.” Warrick said.

“But.. That’s everyone!” Katrina exclaimed.

“Then someone has to be lying.” Thomas said.

“Alright then, whoever did it, cough it up!” Elizabeth yelled.

“They aren’t just going to admit it..” Madison said.

“There’s undoubtedly evidence to contradict someone here,” Mary said, “Someone just has to show it.”

“If I recall correctly, Garrett said he had a note from someone.” Thomas said.

“Oh yeah, that.” I said, pulling it out, “Yeah, I got it yesterday.”

“Could you read it?” Thomas asked.

“Well okay,” I said, before promptly starting, “‘I need to talk to you. Meet me on the 3rd Floor after Night time begins. Warrick.’ That’s it.”

“What?” Warrick said, “I never wrote that!”

“Then who did?” Mary asked.

“How am I supposed to know!?” Warrick asked.

“It would fit with our alibis.” Vincent said.

Something isn’t right..

“Warrick, did you find something?” Thomas asked.

“What do you mean?” Warrick asked.

“I mean, relating to the motive, since you spent the last few days searching for it.” Thomas said.

“No, nothing conclusive that is.” Warrick said, “The damn thing is to confusing, some of them can’t fit any of us! And there’s twelve of them too! It makes no sense if they’re for all of us-!”

“Did I.. Say they were?” Monokuma asked.

“What do you mean?” Warrick asked.

“I mean, did I say they were for you lot?” Monokuma said, “Because, they are, but all of ya!”

“All of us?” I mumbled.

“Wait you mean-” Warrick said.

“The motive includes the Corpses you idiot! You wasted some three days! Kehaha!”

“So there isn’t another mole?” Katrina asked.

“Yup! And, unfortunately, I couldn't find secrets for all of ya, so I just put nothing!” Monokuma revealed, “And some of ya have the same ones!”

“Well, given the secret that was ‘Was interchangeable’, we could’ve predicted that.” Mary said.

“So, Warrick, you said ‘nothing conclusive’, what does that mean?” Thomas asked.

“Well, I just kinda assumed,  _ someone  _ was the other mole, mainly because under normal circumstances, they’d be dead right now.” Warrick said, “And I thought Monokuma intervened.”

“That’s low of you!” Monokuma called out, “I could never imagine breaking the rules! Thinking of it makes me sick!”

“So did Warrick kill Christopher, or not?” Lucy asked.

“He did not!” Elizabeth yelled.

“He certainly could’ve.” Mary said.

“I don’t think he did.” I said, “Just, something feels off to me.”

“You aren’t going after your  _ accuser? _ You really are stupid. Aren’t you?” Lucy said.

“We’ll I’d wager that we’re pretty split right now-” Vincent said.

_ “Wager?” _

Lucy promptly facepalmed, “Did you just-”

“He just did!” Monokuma said, “If you could, please-”

“There won’t be a need for that.”

“Huh!?” Monokuma said, baffled.

“Uh, Thomas, what are you-?” Madison asked.

“You come into my School, my Trial Room, disrespect the process of it, and expect no repercussions for it-!?”

“Oh shut it,” Thomas said, “I’ve already accepted my fate.”

“W-wait, what do you mean Thomas?-” Vincent said.

“Garrett, you said something felt off?” Thomas said.

“Well uh, yeah, I did.” I said.

“Warrick wasn’t lying about being in his room, someone else was, care to tell us who it was?” Thomas asked me.

There really is only one option, isn’t there?..

 

“Thomas.. You killed Christopher, didn’t you?”

“H-huh!?” Madison yelled in shock.

“ _ Thomas _ killed Christopher?” Vincent asked, “Why in the hell-!?”

“It’s the only possibility given the circumstances, Madison, Warrick, and Thomas are the only ones who could have possibly done it, and Warrick just, probably couldn’t have done it.” I said.

“I couldn’t have,  _ obviously _ , mainly since I didn’t write that damn note.” Warrick said.

“But if you didn’t, who did?” Katrina asked, “Because even if you did, why’d Garrett get it?”

“A-aren’t you all forgetting something!?” Elizabeth called out, “Y’know, us having a suspected murderer!?”

“He couldn’t have done it though..” Madison said.

“But, given the circumstances at night time, Thomas had to have done it, everyone else had to have been in their rooms, sans Christopher and I.” I said, “So really, Thomas is the only one who could’ve-”

_ “You’ve gone out-of-bounds!” _

“Do you guys really need to do this every trial-!?” Elizabeth yelled.

“There’s no way Thomas could’ve killed him! I won’t accept it!” Madison argued, “He’s such a nice person, and he couldn’t have done it!”

“But, he didn’t have to do it intentionally, with the trap, and even then, he was just alluding to him doing it!” I rebutted.

“Sure! Someone killed Christopher unintentionally, but Thomas couldn’t have!” Madison yelled, “And that damn note! If the murderer wrote it, then why the hell would they choose to write as Warrick!? And why would it be addressed to you!? Thomas would never do it, he couldn’t have!”

_ Note - Addressed - To Wrong - Person _

_ Break! _   
“How does that at all-!?” Madison asked.

“The note makes much more sense, if it was  _ never supposed  _ to be for me at all.” I said, “Because, if it was for someone who had a stronger connection to Warrick, say Elizabeth, had received it, they’d have followed it to the letter.”

“Are you mocking me?” Elizabeth then asked.

“No, I’m saying Christopher was trying to trick, and then murder you!” I said.

“T-that Bastard!” Elizabeth yelled.

“She is  _ too  _ aggressive..” Lucy mumbled.

“Alright then,” Thomas said, “Garrett, why don’t you just end this charade, I’ve come to terms with it for a  _ long  _ while now.”

“Okay Thomas,” I said, “We end this here!”

_ Closing Argument _

“The case began at some point yesterday, when Christopher mistakenly left a note meant for someone, likely Elizabeth, in front of my door, and it would eventually lead me towards the third floor that night, where he would bash a bottle with a gun inside it across my head, rendering me unconscious. Christopher would then drag me into the Pool room through the doored hallway, and would prop me up against the door, preventing anyone from using that door to get in. Christopher would then set up a contraption using various items from the Pool room shelf, that would upon activation by the main door opening, set off a pistol attached to the other end of it.

Meanwhile, the culprit had been rustled up in the art room, after having painted, and then angering Elizabeth, they decided to stay there for a short time before heading off to the dorms. Though, upon passing the Pool room, they must’ve saw something suspicious, and decided to check it out, and then it happened. Bang, Christopher died setting up his own murder scene, and would quickly bleed to death on top of me.

The Culprit probably had never wanted this to happen, but ended up moving the crime scene around, moving Christopher’s corpse onto the Pool table, and putting the gun into my hands. The culprit, finished with it all, moved to the bathroom, to wash himself, and ended up leaving blood all over one of the sinks, before promptly moving on to the dorms. 

By the time the bodies had been discovered, I had reawoken and was left confused. And, if the culprit  _ themself  _ hadn’t pushed and helped us out, we’d have been here for much longer..

That is the Crime you stumbles into, right Thomas Willard, The Ultimate Sailor!?”

_ Break! _

Thomas was left grinning to himself.

“I won’t believe it..” Madison said, “My friend wouldn’t do that..”

“Well you’d better! Because it’s become blatantly obvious he did it.” Elizabeth said.

“Oh just shut it Elizabeth! It’s far from time to do this.” Thomas said.

“Oh now-!”

“Alrighty then! It seems you all have come to a conclusion,” Monokuma said, “Although not entirely in the way I’d have liked.. But nevertheless! It’s voting time!”

Like as both times prior, the podium’s screen filled with pictures of us all, and while I hesitated for a second, I ended up selecting Thomas’. I looked around and most everyone else did the same, but Madison took a while before she ended up voting. Then the bear spoke.

“Who will be chosen as the blackened? Will you make the right choice, or the dreadfully wrong one?”


	36. Chapter 3: Paranoia's Despair Part 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Trial has ended, and old secrets are revealed.

“And... You’re absolutely correct! The one who killed Christopher Tompkins, is Anti-Sailor Moon, Thomas Willard!” Monokuma announced, “And, one of youse is very lucky right now! Voting for yourself.. You’d best not do it again!”

“So Thomas really did do it, huh..” Madison said.

“The evidence pointed to it, and we found it out he did indeed do it.” Warrick said, “Even then, he basically  _ admitted  _ to it.”

“But, remember, it was activated by a trap, it’s incredibly unlikely that he’d have done it intentionally.” Mary said.

“So Thomas, anything to say?” Elizabeth asked.

“Of course, I have to offer some explanation like the other two did, otherwise the bear over there will say it anyways.” Thomas said.

“Yup!” Monokuma called out.

“Okay, but, you really didn’t intend for this to happen, did you?” I asked.

“I’d say no.. But,” Thomas paused, “Given the circumstances, I’m not sure.”

“W-what do you mean ‘Not sure’!?” Katrina yelled.

“Geez! Turn it down!” Elizabeth yelled.

“Regardless, yes, I’m not sure about it all.” Thomas said.

“But what do you  _ mean _ ?” Vincent asked, “I mean, I can get what you mean, but what exactly..?”

“It started last night, when I stumbled into the  _ scene _ ..” Thomas said.

* * *

I was leaving the Art room, I ended up having to clean myself up after Elizabeth got paint over me. I ended up leaving for the dorms, but when I was passing by the Pool room, I began to hear some  _ noises _ .

So, I decided to investigate it, and the moment I opened the door-

_ *Bang!* _

“Gnhg!” Christopher clenched.

“Woah! What-!” I said.

“T-Thomas..!? W- Y-you j-j-just-!” He yelled, before collapsing.

I was aghast, did I just kill him?

“I- I gotta-!” I said.

“You gotta  _ what? _ ” The  _ bear  _ said, “Tell everyone about it? That you  _ murdered  _ Christopher?”

“Well, yeah-” I said.

“Don’t bother!” It yelled, “That’d make for a boring trial! The blackened calling themself out! Christopher’s plan would’ve made for a great trial! Killing the person who does, like.. Half the work! The other idiots never even planned that! Stupid Hope-boy..”

“What are you-?” I asked.

“Whatever!” It yelled, “You tell  _ anyone  _ about this directly, you  _ will regret _ it!”

I was just.. Confused, he wanted me to make an ‘exciting’ trial?

“You’d better make the right decision here!” It said, “Toodles!”

I had no choice in the matter, it was better to not test the bear.

* * *

“Wait, so Monokuma wanted a trial-?” Katrina asked.

“Of course I did!!!” Monokuma yelled, “It’s not exciting otherwise! Anyways, Thomas! Weren’t you getting to why you have no soul, or something?”

“He has more of a soul than you do..” Lucy mumbled.

“Yeah,  _ that _ .” Thomas said, “Christopher was evidently going to kill Garrett, and.. It’s better that two guilty men die.”

“W-what do you mean two guilty men?” Madison asked.

“Oh yeah, guess I neglected to mention that..” Thomas said, “Welp, I’ll just say it, my secret’s that I’ve murdered before.”

“W-what!?” Madison said in shock.

“You’ve killed before-!?” Warrick said.

Thomas sighed, “Yes,  _ technically _ , it was back when I still sailed, a year or a few back, we ended up in some scuffle with pirates in the Atlantic, and in the fighting, I ended up accidentally shooting my Captain in the cross-fire..”

“Yup! Tommy over here killed his own capitan!” Monokuma said.

“I was going to admit it when we got back, but I just.. Couldn’t ever bring myself to admit that I killed er’.” Thomas said, “Guess that did a whole lot of help with my motivation here.”

“So Thomas killed his captain, and then Christopher, and doesn’t feel that much regret for it?” Elizabeth asked, “Must be.. Hard to deal with that.”

“Did she just-?” Lucy said.

“So, with being forced to hide the murder, you set everything up, and left it to us to find out?” Vincent asked.

“More-or-less, but you saw that I helped during the trial, I couldn’t risk anything.” Thomas said.

“ _ And _ , That ended up destroying all excitement during the Trial! Well, most of it, but I digress!” Monokuma complained, “You completely  _ failed  _ at being a knowledgeable culprit, even Vincent was better than you!” 

“I’m going to take that as an insult.” Vincent said.

“Now, Tommy, you got a  _ tad  _ more time before I, y’know,  _ end  _ this.” Monokuma said.

“Fine, fine. Okay, where do I start? Vincent, you’re better now, not being a reclusive guy, but you still need growth, stop being so insecure.” Thomas said.

Insecure? Well, I guess he’s acted like that before.

“Elizabeth, you’re fine, but when you’re not being aggressive and Warrick-y, but, that look on your face last night, priceless!” Thomas laughed.

“Oh! You’re lucky I don’t-!” Elizabeth threatened.

“Lucy, Katrina, you guys are a good duo, stay the course, and stay truthful to each other.” Thomas said, “Garrett, you being so trusting led you to nearly dying, don’t be so trusting, or you’ll end up losing your head for real.”

“Y-yeah, got it..” I said.

“Madison, you’re strong, but you couldn’t bring yourself to vote me, it’s pretty obvious you didn’t.” Thomas said, “Stay strong, you have friends here, many, and you’ll keep them up, as they will you.”

“T-thanks..” Madison said, looking like she was containing tears.

“Now, Bear!” Thomas yelled.

“Huh-wha!?” It yelled in surprise, “Is the snooze fest over?”

“Yeah, and we have unfinished business!” Thomas yelled.

“Yeah..” Monokuma said, “It’s time! The moment you all have been waiting for! It’s Punishment Time!”

“Bring it on!” Thomas roared.

* * *

_ GAME OVER. _

_ THOMAS HAS BEEN FOUND GUILTY. _

_ TIME FOR THE PUNISHMENT! _

Thomas was set on a boat, named the ‘Hopeful Steer’. Thomas was leading it at the helm, steering it, when suddenly another ship appeared, led by Monokuma, the ‘Blackened Killer’.

_ The Seven Deadly Seas _

_ Ultimate Sailor,  _

_ Thomas Willard’s Execution: Executed _

Thomas rushed to the ship’s deck, a cutlass sword in hand, prepared for the oncoming fight. Then, dozens of Monokumas began to board his ship, and Thomas began to cut them down, with a ferocity I’ve never seen. Monokuma, looked angered by this, and cannons began to fire at the small ship. This didn’t deter Thomas, and he kept cutting them down, looking to perhaps even beat the bears. Then, the primary Monokuma, wearing a stereotypical pirate’s hat jumped on board of the sinking ship, and while he was unfocused, shot Thomas in the back. In that moment, he looked drained, but, he turned to the cheery bear, and charged at it. And, as it became aware of what was happening, Thomas plunged his sword into Monokuma. The furious bear then blew up, knocking Thomas against ships’ pole, his sword blow into his chest. And, as the bears fled, and the ship sank, Thomas looked content, as he was dragged down to the depths.

* * *

Most of us were in shock, as always, but this time, Monokuma wasn’t there to gloat about the execution, we were left alone.

“T-that was.. Something.” Elizabeth said.

“Looks like he was fine the way he went, down with the ship as some put it.” Warrick said.

“Not just any ship!” Madison called out, “His Ship! The one he sailed with for years!”

“How in the hell was Monokuma able to get that?” Vincent asked.

“With all of these clues, we’ve definitely been underestimating the power that trapped us here.” Mary said.

“That Rat’s Bastard!”

The bear had come back.

“He takes down numerous of me, kills me again, and I don’t get any  _ satisfaction!? _ ” Monokuma yelled, “Oh, I’ve had it!”

“You clearly underestimated him!” Madison yelled, “And you deserve it! You trapped us here for who know’s what reason, and force us to kill each other, our friends!”

“Oh shove a sock in it!” Monokuma yelled, “I’ve had enough of you all! Complaining about it all!”

“Well of course we are! You’re killing us!” I yelled.

“You’re killing each other, buzz off.” Monokuma said, “You all have bored me! I’m gonna look at your stupid face when Penelope died again!”

Then it left us, and I was left angry with it.

“How does he  _ fucking  _ do it!? Behave so erratically, and- I just want to-” I yelled.

“Don’t bother!” Lucy yelled, “You go down that path, you’ll end up where David is,  _ dead _ , so stop it now!”

“W-”

“And that goes for all of you as well! If you have any damn problems, don’t bring it to the  _ fucking  _ bear!” Lucy said, “Otherwise, bring it someone you trust!”

Lucy promptly stomped off, Katrina was quick to follow.

“Interesting..” Mary said, before walking off.

And, soon enough, we all promptly returned to our dorm rooms, and left alone to our own thoughts. And soon enough, darkness flowed over me.

* * *

“Huh, guess that was a bust for you, huh?”

“Like you have any right to talk about it.”

“Well,  _ yeah _ , but still, you certainly lost a large amount of Kumas there.”

“We don’t need a lot anyways, they can’t stop what’s started.”

“Well, they  _ could- _ ”

“I’d force them to in that case, the game  _ will be finished _ , regardless of the end.”

“Even if you die?”

“ _ I won’t. _ ”

“Well, I guess I’ll leave you to yourself then.”

“Good riddance.. I’m just glad Thomas intervened, accidentally or not, and kept my little formerly-interchangeable protagonist alive.. For Now.”

* * *

Students Remaining: 8


	37. Chapter 4: Selfish Despair Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A New Day Begins.

*Ding Dong, Bing Bong*

“This is your Morning Announcement! It is now 8 AM, rooms that were locked off at night will be opened. Let’s have a Happy day in the killing game!”

I groaned, having again been awaken by the bear, who had killed Thomas, and directly caused Christopher’s death yesterday.

I forced myself up, before promptly dressing myself and going through the motions, and eventually moving for the cafeteria.

* * *

When I arrived, I noticed that everyone was here, everyone alive that is. I’m pretty sure that’s a first. And like always, I ended up sitting where pretty much everyone was.

“Hey.” I greeted, like always.

“Heya!” Katrina greeted back, “How are ya’?”

“I- Um, Good I guess.” I said.

“Well that’s good.” Lucy said, “Better than  _ her  _ at least.”

Her most definitely meant Elizabeth.

“So, how are you guys then?” I asked.

“Good!” Katrina said.

“Fine like always.” Vincent said with a smile.

“I’m fine.” Mary said, looking at papers.

“Okay. Uhm, how’s she?” I said, gesturing to Madison.

“Oh, she’s still kinda down from.. From, what happened yesterday, I’m pretty sure she just wants to be alone.” Vincent said.

“She’s taking it better than David, thats for sure.” Lucy said.

“Hey!” I said, “That’s not really- Just, He was our friend, and he’s dead-”

“She has a point,” Vincent said, “He didn’t take it well, but I’d prefer it that we’d  _ not  _ touch this issue.”

“Yeah..”

We all then began to eat a bit, before getting back to talking, when-

“Why, Hello, Hello, Hello there!” The bear greeted.

“Do you have to be so annoying?” Warrick asked.

“I’m not annoying!” It yelled, “I’m Monokuma!”

“Why are you pulling that again? It’s been  _ ages  _ since the Welcoming Ceremony.” Lucy said.

“Whatever!” It yelled.

“What do you want then?” Warrick asked.

“Well, like always, I’m pretty sure you all have  _ something  _ to check out!” It announced.

“Oh yeah!” Vincent said, “A new floor!”

“Another floor?” Elizabeth asked.

“Well..” Monokuma said, “I mean, it happens every time!”

“Well, then, let’s get going!” Katrina said, rushing off, as did most everyone else.

“I- Madison, are you going to come with us?” I asked.

“D-don’t worry about me! I just need some.. Alone time, yeah..” Madison said.

“Okay then,” I said, “Just, stay strong, I guess.”

“Yeah.”

And then I began to run off with everyone else.

* * *

We soon ended up on the third floor, at the locked flight of stairs. There was just, one problem..

“It won’t budge!” Katrina yelled.

“Hitting it won’t help genius!” Elizabeth called out.

“Besides that,” Mary said, “It says ‘1’ now, instead of ‘4’.”

“That, why is-?” Warrick asked.

“ _ Well _ , it does say that, but it’s your fault anyways!” Monokuma yelled.

“‘Our fault’!? How in the blazes-!?” Warrick asked.

“Well, you all haven’t been as kill-y lately!” Monokuma said, “You all haven’t  _ killed  _ enough of yourselves!”

“What do you  _ mean _ ?” Vincent asked.

“I think it means, that we’ll have to kill another person to open up the next floor.” Mary said.

“Right on the money sister’!” Monokuma said.

“I’m  _ not  _ your sister.” Mary said.

“Whatever, but she’s right! You’ve always needed the same amount of people as the floor to unlock it!” Monokuma announced.

“So we’re one away.” I said.

“Yup!” Monokuma said, “It’d be two, but  _ someone  _ got themselves killed.. Nevertheless, I persist! Kill another one of ya, by either the Graduation Process or by gettin’ yourself killed, and you get the next floor. Toodles!”

Then it disappeared.

“So we gathered up here for nothing,  _ great _ .” Elizabeth complained.

“Well, we  _ did  _ learn how we get new floors.” Warrick said.

“But,” Mary interjected, “Prospect’s Academy has  _ four  _ floors, which means the next one is the last we can unlock.”

“Maybe that’s why he put this into place then, he thought it’d help drag out the game longer?” I said.

“Perhaps, but there’s no real way of knowing.” Mary said, before walking off, presumably to the Lab.

“Well,  _ there  _ is.” I said.

“Yeah, but she always wants to be so  _ certain  _ about things, even in this unpredictable game of wits and murder!” Lucy said, laughing to herself for a second, “- Katrina, let’s just go.. Do something.”

“Gotcha!” Katrina responded, before promptly dragging Lucy downstairs. 

Warrick and Elizabeth just walked off downstairs with each other after a little. 

“So, uh, do ya wanna go.. Shoot some targets for a while?” Vincent asked.

“I mean, I don’t see why not.” I said.

“Well, let’s get going then.” Vincent said.

Then, Vincent and I began to walk towards the Archery Room on the second floor.

I was lucky, to have these friends with me on this deadly journey, Vincent, Madison, Mary, Lucy and Katrina, even Warrick and Elizabeth, we were all friends, working to oppose Monokuma. Even with the departed, Penelope, David, Jeane, Thomas, Natalie, even in death, they were friends. Jeane was somewhat  _ above _ , in a sense, mostly in her upbringing and perception in herself, but she was still a good friend. Natalie was a friend, even though she was the first Blackened, she was still a friend, one that unfortunately fell to the Despair first. Thomas and David were both friends, one died in anger, the other due to an unfortunate incident, they should both still be alive, they really should. And Penelope, I don’t know what to say, it should be obvious, but I still care for her, and the rest of them, even if they’re dead-

“Garrett.” Vincent said.

“Wha-!”

“We’ve been here for a minute or two, thinking, would you like to enter?” Vincent asked.

“I- Uh- Yeah.” I said.


	38. Chapter 4: Selfish Despair Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The day continues.

So, after entering the room, Vincent and I ended up shooting targets for a bit. Well, it was more like Vincent was actually hitting, while I.. wasn’t.

I glanced over at Vincent, and ended up seeing him shoot a few bullets, and as expected, he practically landed every shot perfectly. Now, looking at my own target, I hadn’t managed to hit anywhere near the bullseye once, let alone multiple times. Soon enough, the both of us walked out of the booths.

“So, how d’ya think you did?” Vincent asked.

“Not good, by any means.” I said, “Not much of a sharp shooter myself, but I bet you did pretty good, right?”

“As good as I’ll ever get.” Vincent said.

“Which means..?” I asked.

“Oh- Yeah, probably better than however you did.” Vincent said bluntly.

“Well  _ yeah _ .” I said, “Do you even know what we talked about last time?”

“Last time?” Vincent asked.

“Well, last time we hung out like thing, a few days ago.” I explained.

“Hmm, well, we talked about how I got into hunting,” He said, “So how about the flip side? How did you get into History?”

“Well, I guess I just got into it over time, History and the Truth just became the things I read into, and I really wasn’t ever that social, so I guess it fits.” I said, “And kinda similar to what you did, I eventually started doing thing related to history, and wound up here.”

“Eh, makes sense given that we were all approached to come here, I doubt there was any exception.” Vincent said, “It wouldn’t make much sense.”   
“I mean, yeah.” I said, “But who knows? With all these mysteries running amok, we can’t be sure.”

“Amok?” Vincent asked, “You said amok.”

“It’s a common word!” I said.

“Well, I guess it is.” Vincent said, before looking at the wall, “Should be about 6 or 7 by now, we should probably split or something,- I mean if you want to that is!”

“Well, I guess we should split, there’s still time to do something else.” I said.

“W-well, I’ll get going then!” Vincent said, before promptly walking out of the room.

He’s been acting more.. Cautious lately. Strange.

Regardless, I decided to wander the halls for a time, before wandering into the Third floor and ending up in the Pool Room.

I just ended up looking around, it was clean. Far from the mess of a crime scene it was yesterday. No Body, No Blood, and No Trap.   
I reminisce about everything that had-  _ Something was off. _

I again looked around the room, and when I looked at the Shelf, something was gone. That Letter I saw was gone. So, someone must’ve broken it and taken it with them, and given the new rule.. It had to have been Thomas or Christopher.

So I ended up searching the room for a while, and after said while, I found nothing.

“Oh, hi Garrett!” It was Katrina, and likely Lucy as well.

“Hey,” I greeted back, “What brings you here?”   
“We could ask you the same thing,” Lucy said, “But, we just came to play some pool.”

“Well, I hope you have better luck than I’ve had.” I said.

“What do you mean?” Katrina asked.

“Well, I was looking for something I saw before, but I haven’t had any luck finding it.” I explained.

“Well, I’m sure you’ll find it!” Katrina said enthusiastically.

Lucy, who was decidedly less optimistic, had been setting up the pool game.

“It’s probably nothing,” Lucy said, “Whatever it is, is probably not very important anyways,”

“Well there’s always a chance-” I said.

“A chance that’ll likely  _ not  _ be taken-” Lucy said, right before taking a shot, and instead of what you’d normally expect, a ball broke.

“What in the-?” Lucy said.

Lucy reached to open the ball, and ended up finding a letter.

“Guess you really are the  _ Lucky  _ Student, Lucy!” Katrina said.

Puns.

“Well, what is it?” Lucy asked me.

“No idea, I just know Monokuma added the new rule so we couldn’t get it.” I said.

“So it has to be important then.” Lucy said.

“Well, I  _ assume _ .” I said.

“So, what’s it say?” Katrina asked.

Lucy handed it to me, “I think you should read it, considering you were looking for it.”

“I mean, I guess so.” I said, before beginning to read.

“PROSPECT’S ACADEMY OFFICIAL NOTICE

Effective Immediately: All Students and Faculty are to remain on Academy Premises at all time for the foreseeable future, given the events that have transpired outside the Academy. Student and Faculty conversation will also be regulated as well, as to damper the chances of any possible ‘Ultimate Despair’ actions to occur in the School.

Also to be put into effect is a ‘Night Time’ period, where Students should return to their Dorms for the night, Night Time will take place from 11 PM to 7 AM. Certain Rooms will also be locked off at Night Time, the Gymnasium, Cafeteria, Pool, 3rd Floor Court Room, and the Various Utility Rooms. Should anyone need to access those rooms during Night Time, all faculty members have a key to open them in their possession.

I would like to thank out Student body for being patient with us as we steer ourselves through the current crisis, and continue to bring Hope to those less fortunate. May we all pass through this Despairful Tragedy unscathed.

Signed, Headmaster of Prospect’s Academy, Maxine Chance.

Dated: July 1, 2012”

“So that’s what it is.” I said.

“A Notice letter is what you’ve been looking for?” Lucy asked.

“I mean, I guess,” I said, “I had no idea that’s what it’d be, even then, it’s still important!”

“We should probably show it to everyone tomorrow morning!” Katrina said.

“Well  _ duh _ .” Lucy said.

“Well, thanks for finding it,” I said, “Do I owe you a favor or something?”

“No problem,” Lucy said, “But there’s no real need for a favor, but I’ll keep it in mind.”

*Ding Dong, Bing Bong*

“Ahem,” It was the bear, “It is now 10 PM, Nighttime will soon be taking effect, and certain rooms will be locked off for the night momentarially. Have a happy night in the killing game!”

“Oh, well, I guess I’ll see you guys tomorrow.” I said, “Good night!”

I wasn’t expecting a response, but, “Night’”


	39. Chapter 4: Selfish Despair Part 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Day Begins Anew.

After waking up to the usual Morning Announcement as always, and ending up in the Cafeteria like always, I ended up whisked into the daily morning motions that we all ended up doing, talking with those we’re close to, and then talking about anything we had found the day prior whenever Warrick decided it was time to talk with everyone.

“So, has anyone-” Warrick started.

“Found anything?” Mary interrupted, “Warrick, no one has ever found  _ anything  _ noteworthy this entire time that only a few of us have known, the odds of anyone actually finding anything is pretty low.”

“Actually, Lucy and I found something yesterday, right Lucy?” Katrina said.

“Yeah, we did.” Lucy mumbled.

“H-hey! I was there too!” I said.

“But that doesn’t matter, now does it?” Warrick said, “What did you guys find?”

“Well, Garrett was looking for something when we arrived, and then Lucy started playing Pool, and one of the balls broke open and we found a letter!” Katrina said rapidly.

“A Letter?” Warrick asked.

“Who cares about some letter?” Elizabeth interjected, “It couldn’t be  _ that  _ important.”

“Quiet Elizabeth,” Warrick said, “What’s the letter about, then?”

“You can just read it yourself,” I said, handing him the letter, “Here.”

Warrick then began to read the letter aloud to everyone in the room, and after that,

“Ultimate Despair?” Vincent asked, “What in the world could  _ that  _ be?”

“Well, it’s evidently something related to the academy, and whatever this “Despairful Tragedy” it mentioned is.” Mary said.

“But at least we know where Monokuma got his Regulations from,” Vincent said, “and who is Maxine Chance anyways-?”

_ “She is none of your business!!!” _

It was Monokuma.

Warrick sighed, “What are you doing here now?”

“I’m about to stop you all from messing with stuff you’re not supposed too!” Monokuma yelled, “Give me the letter!”

“I mean, we already read the thing.” I said, “How could it matter?”

“Because you’ll-” Monokuma exclaimed.

“We already read it  _ bear _ , it doesn’t matter anymore.” Lucy demeaned.

“If you keep talking to me like that, and you won’t be able to read anything!” Monokuma threatened.

“But she hasn’t broken any rules, so you can’t really do anything.” I said.

“D’oh, I’ll just write a new rule if I have too!” Monokuma yelled, “and you know I will too!”

“Ugh,  _ another  _ rule? You’ve been restricted enough, and you can’t copy more of anything from Maxine anyways!” Elizabeth complained.

“All of this talk about that damned Maxine..” Monokuma mumbled, “Fine! Take your letter! But, you won’t have Thomas to break anymore of my rules for ya!”

Then Monokuma promptly disappeared, as it always does.

“What does Thomas have to do with anything?” Katrina asked.

Then it hit me, “Thomas must have broken the case and hid the letter after he walked in on.. Christopher..” 

“So I guess he noticed it while he was messing with the scene, and just hid it at some point.” Lucy said.

“Well yeah, it’s obvious in retrospect,” Elizabeth demeaned, “Just about  _ anyone  _ could’ve gotten that.”

“Oh, could you stop that!” Katrina yelled, “You keep on demeaning us all, and I’m done with it!”

“What do you mean ‘demean’, State the facts? ” Elizabeth asked, “It’s as if you don’t listen to me.”

“I listen to you- We  _ all  _ listen to your comments!” Katrina yelled, “I’m tired of them all, your stupid, ignorant comments!”

“Elizabeth, don’t you think you should-” Warrick said.

“She is trying to silence me! And I won’t let that happen, not again!” Elizabeth rebuked.

“Oh, so you know what it’s like to be silenced?” Katrina said.

“Katrina-” Lucy said.

“No!” Katrina yelled, “I’ve lived long enough having to be silent, and to pretend and lie about myself!”

“Katrina, this isn’t exactly the best time to-” Lucy warned.

“Best time to  _ what? _ ” Warrick asked.

“Best time to reveal-” Katrina paused, “Who I really am!”

“Reveal..?” I mumbled.

I glanced around the room, and everyone was mostly confused, Lucy looked completely distressed, and Warrick looked as if he was about to break something. And then,

 

“I’m Gay!”

 

“...Huh?”

“Y-you heard it!” Katrina said, anticipating our reactions.

“Was this really something worth bursting out about?” Warrick asked.

“W-what do you mean-” Katrina asked.

“I mean was it  _ now? _ ” Warrick asked, “We should be more concerned over Monokuma, not something like-”

Promptly, Katrina ended up shoving Warrick out of the way, and stomping out of the Cafeteria.

“Katrina!” Lucy called out, having stood up, “T-this is on you Warrick!”

Lucy then ended up chasing after Katrina. After that, we were mostly left in silence. 

Mostly.

“You just  _ had  _ to ruin that, didn’t you?” Vincent sighed, “But, I mean whatever, not like you care, you or  _ Elizabeth _ .”

Elizabeth!- She was actually looking.. Comtemplateful? She seemingly was just.. Thinking.

“I- Yeah, you shouldn’t have done that Warrick.” I put in, “That wasn’t very nice, like at all really.”

“Oh you’d like to talk about how we should all be friends when we have to fight against a megalomaniacle bear-!” Warrick countered, before being interrupted.

“We need to talk, Warrick.” Elizabeth said, dragging Warrick out with her.

And that left half of us in the room, a  _ quarter  _ of what we started with… Monokuma was really  getting to us, wasn’t it? But we’re the  _ Ultimates _ , the best and most hopeful of us all, so we’ll get through this.

“Yeah, we’ll get through this..” I mumbled.

“You say something?” Vincent asked.

“Oh, it’s nothing.” I said.

“Whatever you say.” Vincent said, “I’m just going to leave, there’s more to do than mope around.”

He promptly left.

“Guess someone’s mood’s changed.” Mary said.

“How so?” I asked. 

“Vincent’s pessimistic views have dissipated, and he’s become much more positive. While  _ someone _ , and all of us to a degree, have ended up more negative from the beginning of this whole ordeal.” Mary explained.

“I mean I guess that makes sense, but I’d say that we’ve mostly have kept a optimistic view on things.” I said.

“Hey.” Madison greeted, finally talking, which seemed to startle Mary.

“Oh, heya!” I greeted, “You holding up?”

“Yeah, but do either of you feel like a lot of time’s passed recently?” Madison asked, “I mean, it feels like something’s.. Missing.”

“It does feel like some time’s passed, but it’s probably nothing.” I said.

“I’ll agree, it’s probably just nothing,” Mary said, “But how long have we been in here again, a week or two?”

“Probably.” I added.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hahaha, I can't keep a solid schedule and update my story, hahaha-
> 
> Really though, this should've came sooner, much sooner. Like a week or so, but I got sick. Otherwise, I've just been lazy and something-something School. But it terms of "Time I actually spent to write this", it's been about a week and a half, but again, I got sick y'all. 
> 
> But yeah, what hell have I brought upon myself? So, See you in another 2 months! I guess.. Hahaha!
> 
>  
> 
> not really tho i hope


	40. Chapter 4: Selfish Despair Part 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Day Continues.

After everything that had happened in the morning, I ended up retreating to my room for the better part of the morning, mainly because I felt collecting myself after all  _ that  _ was a good idea.

After enough time had passed, I decided to go on out and do something, mainly because I didn’t want to waste time, despite me doing that towards the morning, so I prepared myself and ventured upwards, because that’s where people’d be, right?

* * *

At first I ended up searching the 2nd Floor, where I didn’t encounter anyone who wasn’t already busy, with Madison exercising, and Vincent just doing his own thing. So, I then ended up searching the 3rd Floor, and there I ended up spotting Lucy and Katrina in the Courtroom, and for more than obvious reasons, I decided to leave them alone.

And that’s how I ended up watching Mary make.. Something, I haven’t really  _ asked _ about anything, I’ve just kinda watched so far.

“So, uh, what exactly are you working on?” I asked.

“Acids.” Mary said plainly.

“A-acids!?” I said in surprise, “Why would you need to work with acids!?”

“Do I  _ need  _ a reason?” Mary asked me, “I’ve already told you why I’ve been working with acid, and given our new information from the trial, I’ve got a case to actually try this out and get us help.”

“But, what if there  _ isn’t  _ a loophole here?” I asked, “I mean, what if you did it and broke the rules- leaving you-”

“Aren’t you the optimist, Garrett.” Mary said, “But you do raise the point again, “What if it breaks the rules”. I’ve gone over it myself, and I’m confident that I’m right; I’m confident my hypothesis is right.”

“I mean, if you’re confident, but- just be really sure about this, it could be life-or-death y’know.” I said.

“I thank you for your concerns, but I’ve been set on this for a while.” Mary confessed, “But we may soon begin the experiment if you hand me that bottle over there.”

I glanced over to where she gestured and I saw a number of bottles, all in a shelf. It’s fitting that the Ultimate Chemist would keep everything orderly, especially Mary.

“Uhm, which bottle?” I asked.

“The one on the far-right, it should be a powdery substance.” Mary said.

I went and grabbed it, promptly shaking it with it definitely being the thing she asked for. I then walked over and handed it to her, then she measured a bit of it and poured it into the acid, then she stirred it, mixing in whatever she had make me get.

“Well, if you’d like to, we may begin.” Mary said, smiling.

“I mean, I guess, just be careful about it.” I said, worryingly.

“Trust me, nothing bad will happen.” Mary said, not reassuring me at all.

“I hope so.” I sighed.

And thus, we ended up preparing for the experiment, which we were going to do one one of those Steel Plates, and we chose one of them that were outside the Lab Room.

“So, you’re  _ completely  _ sure about this?” I again asked.

“Have I not made this completely clear? Yes, I am.” Mary said, “So, let’s begin!”

Mary then pulled out a pipette, sucking up a few drops of the acid, before dropping it onto the plate.

“It..” I paused, “Doesn’t seem to be working right.”

“No, it seems to be working just as planned.” Mary stated.

Looking at it though, nothing happened, it wasn’t melting or anything of the like. The acid was just, sitting there.

“But nothing’s happening-” I said.

“Don’t worry, it’ll happen soon.” She reassured.

“If you say so.” I said, she  _ was  _ the Chemist here, she’d know if it wasn’t going to work, but I’d be lying if I’d say I wasn’t doubting it.

I ended up glancing around for a little while, then I saw Monokuma peeking around the corner.

“Uh, Mary?” I said, “Monokuma-”

“Monokuma won’t do anything, Garrett.” Mary said.

That though, seemed to anger said Monokuma.

“You callin’ me weak-willed!?” Monokuma yelled, running over at us.

“No.” Mary said simply.

“Whadda ya mean then!?” It said, yelling again.

“Well, I mean, I haven’t broken any rules have I?” Mary asked, “Especially since-”

“Vandalizing school property is breaking a regulation!” It yelled.

Mary then promptly poured the rest of the acid on the plate.

“W-why would you-!?” I asked frantically.

“Getting ballsy are we Mary, for someone who’s so smart, you sure do seem like an idiot!” Monokuma insulted.

“On the contrary, that wasn’t acid.” Mary said.

“But you-, it was clearly-!” I said, baffled.

“Remember the powder you handed to me?” Mary asked, “It was Lithium Hydroxide, a Base that neutralized the Acid I was using.”

Did she  _ plan  _ this?

“Oh, so it was all a rouse, right?” I asked.

“Mostly, mainly to see how Monokuma would react to it.” Mary explained, “That was a precaution that was completely beneficial to me.”

“Oh- Why you!” Mokomuka fumed, “Fine! You win here you mangy Mad-Scientist! But let it be known, this is your last warning!”

“Yeah,  _ sure _ .” Mary said dismissively.

“I know you’re trying to anger me, and you are!” Monokuma said, “But I’ll just watch your friends’ deaths again, that always cheers me up, toodles!”

“W-why’d you go on like that?” I asked, “It wasn’t very safe-”

“Oh, please! I can’t have a little fun every now and then?” Mary asked, “Even so, I didn’t break any rules, he couldn’t touch me.”

“Heh, I really haven’t seen you let loose at all really,” I said, “Messing with Monokuma is always fun though, I guess.”

*Ding Dong, Bing Bong*

“Ahem,” It was the bear, “It is now 10 PM, Nighttime will soon be taking effect, and certain rooms will be locked off for the night momentarially. Have a  _ very  _ happy night in the killing game!”

“Ah, well we should probably get going then.” I said.

“Yes, we should, it’d be best that way.” Mary said.

And right after I began to walk, I slipped. I slipped on whatever Mary had ended up pouring out earlier.

“Woah! You okay?” 

“Yeah, I’m fine-” I said, looking up, not to find Mary, but Lucy, “Lucy, what are you-?”

“I saw you fall, obviously.” Lucy said, “You should probably get up, though.”

“Y-yeah.” I said, reaching my hand out, promptly being pulled up, “Thanks.”

“No problem!” Lucy said, “I- See you tomorrow!”

Then she ran off.

“Why did she-” I said, “Whatever, it’s probably nothing.”

“You’re dismissing that outright?” Mary asked, “You  _ sure  _ have your priorities straight.”

“Well.. Whatever, we should get going, it’s night time now, right?” I said.

“You are correct, so I suppose we should just mosey down to our dorms.” Mary said.

“Yeah.”


	41. Chapter 4: Selfish Despair Part 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Day Begins, with a surprise.

Again, I woke to the usual Morning Announcement, but it ended up ending differently, I assume because he was getting bored.

“This is your Morning Announcement! It is now 8 AM, rooms that were locked off at night will be opened. And, it’d be a real pleasure if you folks would head down to the gymnasium, I have something  _ special  _ planned for you, heh heh… Be there soon!”

I groaned at the announcement, it was probably a motive, all things considered, and having everyone in the same place would be  _ wonderful  _ considering yesterday’s events. But I resign myself, I still have to get ready and go do whatever the bear wants us to do, given that he doesn’t take resistance lightly.

* * *

Having arrived in the auditorium, I noticed that not everyone was here, surprising given that I usually arrives last, for whatever reason. The people missing were Elizabeth, Lucy, and Katrina. Elizabeth was surprising because Warrick was here, and getting her away from him would be hard. Lucy and Katrina were understandable though, Katrina moreso.

But before I had the chance to really do anything, Warrick walked up to me.

“Garrett.”

“Yes?”

“Did you see Elizabeth on your way here?” He asked.

“No, but I’d expect you of all people to know where she is.” I responded.

“Well no, after we talked yesterday, she just wanted to think.” He said.

“Well I’d assume that she’d be in her room then, I haven’t really ever caught her somewhere.” I guessed.

“Well you never spend time with her, do you?” Warrick said, sounding accusatory, “Whatever, fine, I can go look for her myself!”

He then promptly walked out of the Auditorium.

“Warrick-” I said, before being cut off.

“He’s been acting angsty, probably just because of Elizabeth, don’t sweat it.” Vincent reassured.

“As opposed to you.” Madison said.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Vincent asked.

“Oh, maybe how you’ve basically all-but stuck to Garrett’s side since the Second Trial,” Madison accused.

“I-I have not!”

“You haven’t, but you really only hang out with him.” Mary said.

“Is it  _ my  _ fault he was the only one that bothered to care for my well-being?” Vincent asked, “No, it’s-”

“Yes actually, given your isolatory habits prior to the Second Trial.” Mary said.

“Do you guys really have to do this?” I asked, “It’s nothing to get bothered about.”

“Y-yeah,” Vincent said, “The- Monokuma called us here, right?”

“Well yes, but it’s mostly likely just the motive, nothing to get too bothered about.” Mary said.

“‘Too bothered’?” Madison said, slightly baffled, “You mean the Motives that got  _ half  _ of us killed!?”

“Well-” 

Before Mary could speak though, Elizabeth slammed the door open, with Warrick following her.

“Woah!” Madison said in surprise, “There’s no need to-”

“Shut up!” Elizabeth yelled, “I’m only here because of the damn bear, I don’t need any more interactions right now!”

“Elizabeth..” Warrick said, disdained.

“Can we start already?” Elizabeth asked.

“We’re still missing people, Lucy and Katrina.” I said, “I don’t think-”

“Didn’t ask for small talk, Webster.”

“Okay then..” I mumbled.

Everyone remained in silence for a short while, when,

“H-here!” Lucy called out, with Katrina following.

“If it isn’t-”

“Shut up, Elizabeth.” Lucy said.

“What took you so long, Lucy?” Warrick asked.

“And why should I tell  _ you? _ ” Lucy asked.

“Lucy-” I said, “Just, what held you guys up?”

“We were talking, simple as that.” Lucy said, “Anyways, where’s the bear,-”

“Riiight here!”

Promptly, Monokuma appeared upon the Gym’s front podium.

“Aren’t you all a happy bunch?” Monokuma gleamed.

“No, not really.” Lucy said.

“Why’d you bring us here anyways?” Warrick asked.

“Why ask that, it’s pretty obvious.” Madison said.

“What? Is it that odd that I would like to care for my Students!?” Monokuma questioned.

“You’ve killed half of us,” I said, “You couldn’t possibly care.”

“Firstly,  _ I  _ didn’t kill them,” Monokuma said, “Secondly, I do care, after all, it helps with my next Motive!”

“Great, because that’d help with this all.” Vincent complained.

“But it does fit with the previous timings of the other motives.” Mary said, “You’re getting predictable, Monokuma.”

“Says the Scientist who almost got herself killed!” Monokuma taunted, “Anyways, is anyone excited for the motive?”

“Why would anyone-” I said, being interrupted.

“Well get ready, because here it is!” Monokuma announced, picking up a ticket, “A ticket outta the Academy!”

“That’s..” Warrick said, “This is a joke, isn’t it?”   
“What!? This is no joke, it’s a motive!” Monokuma said.

“This was a waste of time.” Elizabeth complained, “Can we leave now?”

“No you cannot, as I have yet to reveal the crux of the motive,” Monokuma said, “Behold!”

It then promptly revealed that it had Two Tickets.

“Ah ha!”  Monokuma laughed, “Bet you didn’t see that coming!”

“What do you mean by-” Vincent questioned.

“Well Murder-Pants, if you as the Blackened, go uncaught, you may bring another student with you to the Outside World, an you could even work with them along the Case too!”

“This is problematic..” Mary said.

“How so, Mary?” I asked.

“Well, with that, we can’t rely on any two persons’ Accounts anymore, further complicating a prospective Case.” Mary explained, “That’s a reason you chose this, isn’t it?”

“Meh, I was getting bored of Complex Motives, so a simpler one would have to do.” Monokuma said, “Besides, the Drama would be amazing!”

“Drama?” Vincent mumbled.

“Yes Drama! Considering all that happened yesterday, I’m sure this will go over well, Kehahah! Toodles!” Monokuma said, promptly disappearing as always.

“Yesterday..” I mumbled.

“Well this was an interesting event,” Mary said, “But I suppose we should take our leave then.”

“This was a waste of time.” Elizabeth stated.

“What do you mean?” Lucy asked her.

“Oh, y’know, I had to be dragged here with all of you people, because the bear wanted to show off his stupid motive.” Elizabeth explained.

“We all had to be here,” Lucy said, “But you don’t see us complaining.”

“Doesn’t change a thing!” Elizabeth yelled, “I’m not in the mood for any of you, especially you Lucy!”

“Elizabeth, calm-” Warrick pleaded.

“No!” Elizabeth called out, “I’m tired of this  _ bitch _ , who’s only here because of dumb luck, thinking that-”

*Thud!*

And, in that moment, things somehow got _ even worse _ .

“Don’t call my friend a bitch!” Katrina threatened at Elizabeth.

“D-did you just  _ punch  _ me?” Elizabeth asked.

“Elizabeth..-” Warrick mumbled.

“I’ll show you!” Elizabeth yelled, throwing a punch at Katrina.

But, before she could continue, Warrick quickly grasped Elizabeth, pulling her back.

“I’m not letting you get yourself hurt!” Warrick said.

“Get off-!” Elizabeth grunted, wrestling herself free, “You’re lucky.” She sneered at Katrina, before stomping off.

“Elizabeth-, wait!” Warrick called out, promptly following her.

“Those two are just..” Vincent sighed.

“I mean yeah, but..” I said.

“Katrina, you okay?” Lucy asked.

“Yeah, I-I’m fine, alright?” Katrina said, “Let’s just, go.”

“Yeah, okay.” Lucy said.

Lucy and Katrina then walked out of the auditorium.

Following that, everyone just returned to their rooms, like we all have always done after the morning. 


	42. Chapter 4: Selfish Despair Part 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Day Continues.

After the Morning Motive Announcement, I ended up staying in my room for a while, pondering the Motive, but you can only do so much alone, so I decided it was best I go and spend time with someone.

Thus, I ended up walking around the School for a while, and ended up in the library, where, surprisingly, Vincent was.

“Oh, hey Vincent.” I greeted.

“Garrett,” He greeted back, “Guess you’re surprised to see me here?”

“I mean, yes?” I said, “You don’t seem the type to read all that often, given you’re a hunter and all.”

“I may be a hunter, but I’m no gun-nut,” Vincent responded, “Regardless, I’m trying to make myself useful here, and I’m trying to read into whatever reasoning the broken person that brought us here may have had.”

“That’s a tall order, but still worth looking into, you find anything yet?” I asked.

“Not yet, but I’ve found this book, talking about Hope n’ Despair, y’know how Monokuma always rambles on about Despair? Thought it’d be useful.”

“I mean, that’s a good idea on paper, anything interesting so far?” I asked.

“Well not _particularly_ , just basic stuff, like Hope being optimism and moving forward, with Despair being pessimistic and all, y’know, basic.”

“That doesn’t seem to fit Monokuma very well, it seems to be very optimistic, about our deaths, but still optimistic of a sort.” I said, “It just seems to be very messed up.”

“True, but I’m still going to look into it, besides, if that won’t work as some kind of insight, I found a book about Hope’s Peak Academy’s founding and such, it’s expansion into this place too.”

“I guess that’d help a bit, Prospect’s only been here for a short time, compared to Hope’s Peak that is.” I said, “Hasn’t Prospect’s Academy’s Headmaster been the same since it’s founding?”

“Yeah, Maxine Chance, she’s been Headmaster for a while, perhaps she’s behind this whole mess.” Vincent guessed.

“Maybe, but I’d wager not, the Academy’s all about Hope right? How could they screw up so badly that someone obsessed with Despair would end up Headmaster?” I asked, “They’d have to have run a background check or something.”

“Maybe, but we don’t have any real way to find out until we investigate it all, so this is a start.” Vincent said.

“Well, good luck with finding something, I guess.” I said, “Guess I’ll just let you get to your reading then.”

“Yeah, you do that,” Vincent mumbled, “Go do fun things with friends-”

“What was that?”

“N-nothing! Just reading along to the book and all..” Vincent said.

“Okay then, see ya..” I said, then leaving the Library. 

* * *

 

Following that, I ended up roaming around for a bit, and ended up on the Third Floor, like many of the things that had happened as of late, the last Case, and it was pretty much where everyone was doing their activities.

I ended up passing the Lab when Lucy began to leave it.

“Okay, thanks Mary!” Lucy said, backing out of the Lab, “O-oh, Hey Garrett!”

“Hey.” I greeted back, “What are you-?”

“Sorry, gotta go!” She responded, promptly running off.

“What’s that all about?” I mumbled to myself.

I then continued to walk and ended up spotting Madison in the Courtroom, practicing football? It looked like it, though one can’t really practice sports like football with one person-

Then she glanced towards the door, saw me, and then motioned me in. Given what happened last time, I was somewhat reluctant to enter, but I did so regardless.

“Hey Madison, what are-” I greeted, before being interrupted.

“Quick, over there!” She said quickly, tossing a football into my hands, and then shoving me to the other side of the Room.

“What are you-” I asked, again being interrupted.

“We are going to play 2-Man Football!” Madison announced.

“Are we? You know I’m not very athletic-” I said, pleadingly.

“Too bad!” Madison said, promptly charging at me.

It’s not any surprise that I ended up a bookworm, Sports never really intrigued me, and I’m far from the body-building type, more surprising is that I somehow ended up dodging Madison.

“Woah!”

“Nice dodge, Webster, but it’ll take more than that to beat me!” Madison taunted.

Following that, I decided that it’d be best to book it across the room, before Madison either tackled me again, or noticed I had run.

“Hey!” Madison ended up calling out as I ran, promptly chasing after me.

I just kept running across the gym, and I think I scored a football properly, I did the touchdown thing that I here about from my family whenever the Football Season comes around.

Promptly after that, Madison ended up tackling me, bashing me into the wall.

“Gah!” I muttered, a wave of pain washing over me.

“Heh, you almost got me there, but you missed your mark by a bit there!” Madison boasted.

“That _hurt_ you know!” I groaned, getting up.

“Buy hey, it’s just a-” Madison shrugged.

“No, it’s not nothing, you bashed me into the wall!” I complained.

“Well yeah, but-”

“You’ve also been acting pretty weird lately, first you were in the dumps, and now you seem just dandy, are you alright or something?” I peddled.

“Yes, I’m alright!” Madison exclaimed, “Football is just fun and a good distraction from everything!”  
“A distraction from what!?” I asked.

“From- From everything that’s been happening recently!” Madison exclaimed, “You have Katrina and Elizabeth acting like complete jerks, Monokuma always wanting to stir up trouble, and that’s not mentioning that half of us have died!”

“Madison-”

“Why do you all act as if our friends _dying_ is anywhere near normal!?” Madison asked, “It’s not easy dealing with it all, and you all seem so bizzare with it! None of this will ever be normal, none of us can ever be normal again!”

“Madison, have you been like this for a while, feeling this I mean?” I asked.

“Yeah, since Jeane died, someone I talked to semi-frequently had died, and since then it’s gotten worse.” Madison admitted, “And what about you? You looked devastated when Penelope died, and now you’re just dandy!”

That stumped me, “I guess- Maybe-” I stuttered, “I.. Don’t know, I just, I guess I’m just used to death, and it can’t just be me, because everyone else is right?”

“Yeah, but Monokuma’s probably behind this, if I had to guess.” Madison said, “Didn’t we find something that said it was, like, 2014? I mean, if it is true, and he’s not just messing with us, why don’t we remember it?”

“Well, I guess we just have to keep moving and find the answers then.” I said.

“Of course the Historian says that.” Madison joked.

*Ding Dong, Bing Bong*

“Ahem,” It was the bear, “It is now 10 PM, Nighttime will soon be taking effect, and certain rooms will be locked off for the night momentarially. Have a happy night in the killing game!”

“Drat, guess we’ll have to talk more later then.” I said.

“Yeah..” Madison sighed, “But don’t go thinking this is normal!”

“I won’t!” I said back.

Then, like all days here before, I walked back to my dorm, and got ready to sleep. But, before I could get to sleep, I ended up hearing something, and I saw that the camera in my room was moving.

Promptly after seeing it though, is stopped. Thus, I disregarded it for the moment, and decided to get the rest like I always do.


	43. Chapter 4: Selfish Despair Part 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A new day begins, with the tears of conflict ever present.

The day began as always, Monokuma’s announcement rang, waking all of us up, I got dressed and ready, and soon departed for the cafeteria.

* * *

And, like always, the cafeteria had people in it, sans Elizabeth and Warrick, but considering the event of the past few days, it was no surprise. Lucy and Katrina being here though? That was surprising, but they seem to be more level-headed, Katrina to Elizabeth, I mean.

“Heya.” I greeted.

“Hey, Garrett!” Madison greeted back.

“So, how are y’all doing?” I asked as I sat next to the group.

“I’m doing fine, currently.” Mary stated.

“Fine,” Vincent said, “Same as always, that is.”

“Cool,” I said, glancing over to the kitchen, where Lucy and Katrina were cooking, “Is there any reason they’re in there?”

“Not to my knowledge.” Mary said.

“Lucy’s probably just trying to cheer Katrina up, and everything.” Madison guessed, “It’s what friends do, my Team and I used to cook together all the time.”

“That’s cool, what’d you guys make?” I asked.

“Well, we cooked, but not great at all,” Madison admitted, “We usually burned whatever we cooked, so we usually got take-out, but we occasionally made something edible- tasted awful though!”

“You’re lucky we have the Food Culture that we do.” Mary said, “That being said, I can’t imagine how anyone manages to eat fast food, with its many health detractors being present.”

“Well, I think most people don’t really  _ care _ .” I said.

“It’s because it’s cheap.” Vincent said plainly, “People will get  _ anything  _ if it’s cheap.”

“And how would you know that?” Madison asked.

“Because whenever you see stuff about it in health documentaries, the people buying into it are almost always on the poorer side of the spectrum.” Vincent explained, “All the more of a reason that I don’t waste whatever I hunt when I do.”

“Why even are you a Hunter?” Madison asked.

“When you live in a really rural area, you don’t exactly have many options for passing time, and since my family hunted to get food, you can draw the connections from there.” Vincent explained.

“Uhm, so has anyone found anything as of late?” I asked, “Any secrets or anything?”

“I’ve been holed up in my Lab, so no.” Mary said.

“Nah.” Madison said.

“Haven’t found anything either, secret or knowledge.” Vincent said.

“Well that’s reassuring.” I sighed, “But we’re bound to find something eventually, right?”

“Near assuredly,” Mary said, “When we unlock access to the Fourth Floor, we’re bound to find things that we haven’t before. Assuming Monokuma doesn’t give us anything before then.”

“Do you really think the motive-” I asked, then being interrupted.

“It’s worked every time to this point, so I doubt  _ nothing  _ is going to happen, Garrett.” Mary said, “Letting two people escape will undoubtedly inspire thoughts, but few will act on it, especially when there’s only Eight of us left.”

“Well, hopefully nobody will end up doing that, right?” Madison said.

“Well, you’d hope so,” Vincent said, “But Monokuma has his ways..”

“Like all-but forcing people to murder someone.” Mary said, alluding to Vincent.

“Regardless, is there anything else to  _ do? _ ” I asked, “We’ve been talking a while, and we don’t have Warrick to gather all of our findings.”

“Well, I have things to do, and concoctions to make.” Mary said, standing up, “See you all later.”

Mary then promptly left the Cafeteria.

And, following that, Vincent and I ended up leaving as well, Madison staying in the Cafeteria. Vincent presumably went to the Library, but I remembered something, and decided to go upstairs to revisit it.

* * *

As I entered the Arcade, old feeling began to flow into me, ones of a more hopeful time, when there was 14 of us, 14 Hopeful Students, 14 Students who were still alive. The last time I was in here, way forever ago, it feels like. Despite only being what? 2 Weeks since I was last here, it feels like it’s been almost a year.

I walked towards what I came for,  _ that  _ machine, “Prospect’s Mystery”.

I started it up, half expecting it to shut down, but it booted up, and after that, the game finally began.

* * *

_ “The Tragedy has been raging on for over a year, and it’s suspected that one of the Academy’s students may be an Ultimate Despair. You will play a student who is attempting to unearth the mystery.” _

_ Propect’s Mystery Chapter 1: Lockdown for Hope _

_ I woke in my room like always, the same as it had been for years at this point. _

_???: “Urgh..” _

_ As of late, we’ve been put into a more stressful situation, with our latest food shipment being late, we’ve been put into minor rationing. We’ve also had to send Class 14 to a Facility up in Maine, due to spacing concerns, and Class 12 has increasingly been stressed, due to suspicions of it harboring the supposed Ultimate Despair, so far as being isolated from us. Perhaps they’re suspicious of us, instead. _

_ I crawled out of bed and got myself dressed, before walking out of my room to- _

_???: “Hey Walter, Mr. Ultimate Recorder, you ready!?” _

_ Walter: “Gah! Don’t scare me like that, Sue!”  _

_ Sue: “Heh, sorry!” _

_ Walter: *Groan* _

_ That’s Sue Daschle, Ultimate Activist. A Friend that I’ve made here, she’s the person I consider the closest. _

Who.. Are these people? I mean, it’s Prospect’s Academy, Class 13, but- 

Whatever, I shouldn’t dwell on this right now.

_ Walter: “Well, umh, are you ready for the Investigation later?”  _

_ Sue: “Yeah, we should have everything ready, but we should meet up with everyone, right?” _

_ Walter: “Yeah, we should.” _

Then, I had control over “Walter”, and got to walk him around. The layout of the area was close to exactly what it was here, so I ended up trekking north to find “Sue” waiting for me outside the Cafeteria. Promptly, the two sprites walked into the Cafeteria, and I found myself faced with a variety of characters, 13, with 11 being unknown to me.

Regardless of this being seemingly fiction, I have to play it to find something, because it undoubtedly holds something, if the intro has anything to say about it.

I sighed as I moved forward in the game, prepared to waste as much time on this as it’d let me.


End file.
